An Excuse to Indulge
“When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I swore to give their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and grow fat, they will turn to other gods and worship them, provoking Me and breaking My covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:20).
We know in general that Jews do not turn to other gods because they believe in them. Rather, they do so as a result of “growing fat” – as Deuteronomy 32:15 states, “And Yeshurun grew fat and kicked,” i.e., rebelled.
But why turn to idol worship if one is already “fat,” if one is already successful? What purpose does it serve if one doesn’t believe in it?
The answer is that Jews turn to foreign gods because these gods serve as the basis of a culture of materialism and pleasure that allows them to do whatever they want. The foreign gods aren’t the essence; the essence is the materialism, the desires, the delights. As the Rabbis declare (Sanhedrin 63b): Idol worship is only an excuse to commit sexual sin.
Thus, whenever the Torah speaks of the prohibition of idol worship, it also has in mind the pursuit of foreign cultures – cultures that reject the notion that G-d created the world and demands that His creations lead a specific type of life. For these cultures serve as an excuse for man to follow his every whim, desire, and passion.
Peirush HaMaccabee