Smoothing the Path to Error: Why Modern Security Protocols Mimic Ancient Idolatry
How we traded emunah for the illusion of control
In the quiet hours of a restless night in Eretz Yisrael, a siren wails. For many, the response is reflexive: a frantic scramble to wake sleeping children, a hurried dash to a concrete room, and a spike in cortisol that may not subside for days.
We call this hishtadlut (effort) or v’nishmartem (the command to guard one’s life). But a growing chorus of Torah leaders is asking a deeper, more unsettling question: At what point does our pursuit of “safety” cross the line from a halakhic requirement into a form of modern psychological idolatry?
To understand this, we must look at a fascinating and frightening sugya in Masechet Avodah Zarah (55a).
The ‘Miracles’ of Falsehood
The Gemara records a dialogue between Rava bar Rav Yitzchak and Rav Yehuda. Rava describes a local idol that seemed to “work.” When the world needed rain, the idol would appear to the entire city in a dream, demanding a human sacrifice. The people complied, and—miraculously—the rain fell.
Rav Yehuda’s explanation is chilling. He cites the verse, “Which the L-rd your G-d has allotted (chalak) to all the nations” (Devarim 4:19). The word chalak, he explains, means she-hechelikan—G-d “smoothed the path” for them. He allowed a false system to appear successful so that those who wished to be misled could follow their error to its ultimate conclusion.
In our modern context, we see this play out in the official response to crisis. Whether it is the draconian lockdowns of the COVID era or the rigid adherence to siren protocols that ignore local statistical reality, these systems often “work” in the minds of the public because they provide a sense of control. But as the Gemara warns, just because an action is followed by a desired result does not mean the action caused the result, nor does it mean the action was righteous.
The Parable of the Trusted Man
Rabbi Akiva provides the antidote to this confusion in the same sugya. He was asked by a Roman official named Zunin: “If idols have no power, why do we see people go to their temples crippled and return cured?”
Rabbi Akiva responded with the parable of the “Trusted Man” (Adam Ne’eman): In a certain city lived a man so honest that everyone deposited their money with him without witnesses. One man, however, was suspicious and only deposited his money in front of witnesses. One day, that suspicious man forgot and left his money with the Trusted Man in private. The Trusted Man’s wife suggested, “This man didn’t trust us; let’s deny we ever received his money!” The Trusted Man replied, “Should I lose my integrity just because this fool acted improperly?”
Rabbi Akiva explains the application: Afflictions (illnesses and pains) are “sworn” by Heaven. They are given an oath: “You shall enter this person on such a day, and you shall leave him on such a day, at such an hour, through such a doctor and such a medicine.”
When the time comes for the illness to leave, it must depart. If the person happens to be standing in an idol’s temple at that exact moment, the illness does not “break its oath” and stay just because the person is acting like a fool. The “Trusted Man”—the laws of nature and Divine decree—maintains its integrity even when the human misattributes the result to the idol.
Today, we see a perfect parallel. When a person follows a grueling official protocol and remains safe, they credit the protocol. They ignore the possibility that their safety was already “sworn” by Heaven, and that the protocol was merely the “idol’s temple” they happened to be standing in at the time.
The COVID Parallel: A Cautionary Tale
We saw this Trusted Man dynamic play out vividly during the COVID-19 rollout. A recent Walla News article detailing the state’s admission of the failures of the COVID response serves as a secular version of this parable. We now know that many of the “safety” measures—school closures, masks for toddlers, isolation of the elderly—caused deep, lasting injuries that far outweighed the benefits.
During the pandemic, anyone who questioned the official narrative was accused of violating v’nishmartem. Yet, looking back, it is clear that the official response was often a knee-jerk ritual designed to appease a panicked public, rather than a data-driven halakhic analysis. We ignored the evidence of developmental harm because the Idol of Protocol promised us safety. Now, we are seeing the exact same dynamic repeat with the daily and nightly trauma of the sirens.
Rav Koldetzki and the Sacrifice of the Shelter
This brings us to a recent psak from Rav Yitzchak Koldetzki, the son-in-law of Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l. In a direct challenge to the official Home Front Command protocols, Rav Koldetzki advised parents in certain areas: “It is better to stay at home with the children and not go down to the shelter. The trauma to the children is a damage seen immediately. It is better that they sleep well at night.”
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Rav Koldetzki is applying profound halakhic and statistical integrity. He is weighing a certain harm—the psychological trauma and developmental damage of repeated nighttime terror—against a statistically remote danger.
When we prioritize the “official” protocol over the immediate well-being of our children, are we practicing v’nishmartem, or are we bowing to a system that demands a “sacrifice” (the mental health of our youth) in exchange for a feeling of security?
The Amshinover Rebbe: Internal vs. External Security
The Amshinover Rebbe, in a rare and powerful interview, echoed this sentiment by shifting the focus from the external shield to the internal state. He reminds us that the true protection of the Jewish people is not found in the thickness of the concrete walls, but in the clarity of our emunah.
When the “shield feels thin,” as the Baal Shem Tov famously taught, the strategy is not to add more physical layers, but to dissolve the fear through the realization that “there is none besides Him.” The Amshinover Rebbe’s approach suggests that a panicked response to security threats actually undermines our defenses, as it validates the “idol” of physical cause-and-effect over the reality of Divine providence.
A Call for Statistical Integrity
One might ask: If outcomes are “sworn” by Heaven, why does statistical data matter at all?
The answer lies in the definition of hishtadlut. Because outcomes are in G-d’s hands, we are judged solely on the rationality and morality of our efforts. Ignoring the data—such as the actual likelihood of a rocket strike versus the guaranteed trauma of a terrified child—is irrational.
Statistical integrity is not a secular alternative to faith; it is the lens through which we discern what Heaven actually demands of us. As we have argued in these pages before, hishtadlut that causes more injury than the threat it seeks to avert is not hishtadlut—it is negligence and cruelty.
The Gemara in Avodah Zarah warns us that G-d will allow falsehood to look successful to test our resolve. Today, our test is to look past the pseudo-miracles of official bureaucracy and return to a Torah-based assessment of risk.
Whether it is the Amshinover Rebbe’s call for spiritual composure or Rav Koldetzki’s defense of our children’s sleep, the message is the same: Do not let the official dream lead you to sacrifice what is truly precious.
We must trust the archetypal Adam Ne’eman—the Master of the World—and realize that true safety lies in the tranquility of our homes and the integrity of our souls.
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