Rashi interprets ,ut, sign, as being a supernatural event in heaven, while he suggests that a ,pun, wonder, is a miraculous event on earth. Horav Shlomo Yosef Zevin, zl, takes a practical approach to understanding these two types of “miracles.” Two phenomena may cause one to turn away from Torah: misguided philosophies or base desires. When the Torah admonishes us not to stray after our heart and eyes, it is a reference to the desires of the heart and the confused and false theories of the mind. “The heart lusts and the eyes see,” writes Rashi at the end of Parashas Shelach. Either one has the ability to effect a tragic separation from Judaism.
Our people’s history has unfortunately been marred by exposure to the “prophets” of both of these cultures. Some individuals expounded theories and dogma that were alien to Torah. They attempted to poison our minds with their misconstrued interpretations of the Torah. Their misguided philosophies only served to justify their hypocritical and perverted value system. Other false prophets appealed to the senses. They attempted to seduce us away from a Torah way of life with promises of a life of fun in which “anything goes,” with a value system that was founded in promiscuity and concretized with immorality. Yet, to all those “neviei sheker,” false prophets, we responded with a simple – no.
We suffered abuse and ridicule from our own “enlightened” brethren, but we did not succumb to the wiles of the yetzer hora, evil inclination, disguised as a friend. It was the simple admonishment of the Torah that gave us the fortitude to ignore their blandishments. “Do not listen to him,” says the Torah. To have a dialogue with a false prophet is the first step toward legitimizing his doctrine. “Do not listen to him,” says the Torah. Ignore him, for he only seeks to lead you astray from Hashem.
