Tear Them Down And Shatter Their Monuments

Torah, Exodus 23:24: You shall not prostrate yourself before their gods, and you shall not worship them, and you shall not follow their practices, but you shall tear them down and you shall utterly shatter their monuments.

What is being referred to here is not idol worship of primitive tribes, but about man building the likeness of the Creator within himself.

“Shatter their monuments” means to destroy all egoistic desire, all the way to the last level, to the “rocks,” in other words, to the inanimate level. Man must stop using egoism in any of its forms.

Initially, when a quality called, for example, Jebusites or Hittites, which had never been experienced before, begins to develop, a person may think that he can move toward the goal correctly with this quality: live in this world in order to grow spiritually. But, later, he begins to discover that this quality is opposite to the spiritual.

Moreover, this quality still needs to be developed to such an extent that you grow to despise it: you are ready to die if only to no longer remain in this guise, in this shell, in this form—that is how completely opposite it is to the likeness of the Creator.

Nonetheless, thanks to this, thanks to each of these forms, each of these qualities, each of these “nations,” the form of the Creator is revealed within you. That is how you come to recognize Him from all angles and gradually reveal Him.

Only a person who is moving toward the Creator is able to come to despise these “nations” within oneself.

Question: Any other hatred is not considered hatred?

Answer: No, earthly qualities are not being referred to here, but the people who took on the goal to make themselves similar to the Creator.

No matter how grand this sounds, it is still a very difficult job. Actually, the Creator does everything, but identifying all the opposites to Him within yourself to such an extent that you beg Him to correct you, that you must do yourself. “Strike me with a chisel and hammer, cut from me all the egoistic excesses and leave in me only Your image,”—this you need to beg for.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book,” 7/1/2013