A second danger the Jewish people may be faced with in their new home, is the call of the false prophet to deviate from the path of tradition. Coming as it does from someone who may have acquired the reputation of being a prophet, such danger is very real indeed. The Torah warns that the surfacing of such people advocating practices inimical to normative Judaism is a test of our faith in God, our loyalty, and must be reacted to a such. The third danger, and by far the most difficult to combat, is seduction by one's intimate friends and relatives. (13,7) "When your brother, son or daughter tries to seduce you, privately, saying let us worship other deities that you have not known.⁠" We are warned to ignore sentiments of protectiveness for the welfare of family in such cases, and to bring such people to justice. We must not corrupt our sense of pity by applying it to the undeserving. Only when we do not abuse feelings of mercy, pity etc. can we in turn expect the Almighty to employ His sense of pity, mercy etc. when we are in need of it. When God sees that we deal with cities in which idol worship has become rampant, according to Torah law, then His wrath that such things have been allowed to happen can be assuaged. Actually, display of sympathy for the corrupt few is equivalent to subjecting the majority to their evil machinations. Cruelty,- if such it be- must be reserved for use against unrepentant sinners. Gods purpose in educating us, is to eliminate negative character traits and elevate us to a level of banim attem tashem elokeychem, you are true children of the Lord your God. We would almost cease to be beney adam, "sons of man,⁠" and become "sons of God" instead. The fact that the Jewish people or God are referred to as children, daughter, mother and sister in their reciprocal relationship in various places in the Bible, indicates that the intimacy of such relationship undergoes changes. Psalms 45,11, speaks of "hearken daughter and see!.⁠" Song of Songs 3,11, speaks of "the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding.⁠" Song of Songs 4,12 speaks of "My sister is like a fenced in garden.⁠" The relationship between Israel and its God is one that should become progressively more intimate. For these reasons, "do not make incisions on yourselves,⁠" is to remind us that the loss of human relatives notwithstanding, the continued presence of God, who represents to us all the above listed human relationships, must help us put any personal grief over the loss of dear ones into its proper perspective, and not to "cut ourselves up" over such loss. When members of one's family die,- seeing that theirs was the same relationship with God as ours-, He has suffered a loss similar to ours, and it is not fitting therefore for us to disfigure ourselves as a sign of mourning. "Do not make a bald spot on your forehead.⁠" (14, 1) This is the true meaning of the verse "for you are a holy nation to the Lord your God.⁠" (14,2) See our commentary in Parshat Emor. The reason this legislation follows that of the ir hanidachat, the city of idol worshippers that has to be destroyed, is to remind us that inflicting wounds upon one's body in mourning, for people who died as a result of punishment for such sins as idol worship, is just as wrong as treating such people with less than the full force of the law. Finally, to reinforce the holy character of the Jewish people, and to insure their continued adherence to Torah standards, the legislation concerning forbidden foods is appended.