אנוש

Enosh is the generation in which, according to tradition, a great error began that accompanied humanity for thousands of years. 'Then it was begun to call in the name of God' (Genesis 4:26), and the Sages expounded it in a mundane sense: in his days people began to call idolatry by the name of God, and to serve the stars and constellations as agents of the Creator.

The error was not outright denial but something more subtle: the people of Enosh's generation thought that just as a king honors his ministers, so it is fitting to honor the sun and moon as instruments of God. From here, Maimonides teaches, began the long road of idolatry, which started with a supposedly good intention and deteriorated until the Creator Himself was forgotten.

The generation of Enosh is a warning: not every error begins in open wickedness. Sometimes it begins with an idea that seems reasonable, 'it is fitting to honor the instruments,' and only generations later does it become clear where it led. Abraham, who would come afterward, would have to dismantle this whole tower back to the simple truth.

What do we learn from him? That a great error usually begins with a small step that seems logical, and that one must be alert to the root, not only to the outcome. The generation of Enosh teaches that when one begins to honor 'the instruments' too much, in the end one forgets who created them, and that truth requires always returning to the source.