The first place we see this is in Deuteronomy 18:10:
לֹא-יִמָּצֵא בְךָ, מַעֲבִיר בְּנוֹ-וּבִתּוֹ בָּאֵשׁ, קֹסֵם קְסָמִים, מְעוֹנֵן וּמְנַחֵשׁ וּמְכַשֵּׁף. וְחֹבֵר, חָבֶר; וְשֹׁאֵל אוֹב וְיִדְּעֹנִי, וְדֹרֵשׁ אֶל-הַמֵּתִים. כִּי-תוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה, כָּל-עֹשֵׂה אֵלֶּה; וּבִגְלַל, הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, מוֹרִישׁ אוֹתָם מִפָּנֶיךָ.
There shall not be among you those who pass their children through fire, a diviner, soothsayer, fortuneteller, sorcerer, demon summoner, one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or a necromancer. For anyone who do these is an abomination to God, and it is because of these abominations that the Lord your God is removing them [the Canaanites] from before you.The second is in Deuteronomy 22:5:
לֹא-יִהְיֶה כְלִי-גֶבֶר עַל-אִשָּׁה, וְלֹא-יִלְבַּשׁ גֶּבֶר שִׂמְלַת אִשָּׁה: כִּי תוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, כָּל-עֹשֵׂה אֵלֶּה.
A woman may not wear a man's thing, nor shall a man wear a woman's garment, for anyone who does this is an abomination to the Lord your God.And the third is in Deuteronomy 25:13-16, as aforementioned:
לֹא-יִהְיֶה לְךָ בְּכִיסְךָ, אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן: גְּדוֹלָה, וּקְטַנָּה.
לֹא-יִהְיֶה לְךָ בְּבֵיתְךָ, אֵיפָה וְאֵיפָה: גְּדוֹלָה, וּקְטַנָּה.
אֶבֶן שְׁלֵמָה וָצֶדֶק יִהְיֶה-לָּךְ, אֵיפָה שְׁלֵמָה וָצֶדֶק יִהְיֶה-לָּךְ - לְמַעַן, יַאֲרִיכוּ יָמֶיךָ, עַל הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ.
כִּי תוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, כָּל-עֹשֵׂה אֵלֶּה: כֹּל, עֹשֵׂה עָוֶל.
Do not keep multiple weights for yourself in your pocket, large and small. Do not keep multiple measures for yourself in your house, large and small. You must have a complete and just weight; you must have a complete and just measure - so that you may live long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. For anyone who does such things, anyone who does injustice, is an abomination to the Lord your God.Is there some common thread that connects these three seemingly very different commandments which all share this rare level of divine reproach? I believe that there is - a thread twisted from two strands.
First, the fact that there are precisely three of these personally abominated activities is reminiscent of the three supreme prohibitions, for which one is obligated to give up one's life, viz.: idolatry, murder, and sexual immorality. There is a simple and plausible parallel:
| Big Three | Person is an Abomination |
|---|---|
| Idolatry | Divination and necromancy |
| Murder | Keeping dishonest weights and measures |
| Sexual immorality | Crossdressing |
These three are the ultimate exemplars of the three general categories of transgressions: against God (idolatry), against one's fellow (murder), and against one's self (sexual immorality). Similarly here we have a sin against God - seeking guidance from soothsayers and necromancers in his place; a sin against one's fellow - keeping equipment to secretly cheat in business; and a sin against oneself - cross-dressing (by analogy to the clearly related sexual sins).
Second, in a previous post discussing the prohibition of keeping dishonest weights and measures, I suggested that the reason that the person who keeps dishonest weights or measures is an abomination, and not just the action, or the objects, is that while simply keeping something in one's house seems quite harmless, whereas what the Torah is teaching us is that in fact it is pernicious and can lead over time to a total transformation of one's personality.
In each of these three cases, the action involved is one that, on the surface, seems entirely harmless. Do you think that if I (a man) put on a skirt that I'll immediately run out and join an orgy? Crazy talk. Or that getting my fortune told will cause me to go and sacrifice a goat to Baal? Ridiculous!
And yet, what we do has a subtle influence on how we think and how we view the world. Someone who keeps dishonest weights will come to see nothing wrong with having them, and then nothing wrong with using them, and will slowly and imperceptibly lose sight of the humanity of his fellows. Occasional crossdressing will become habitual and will lead, over time, to losing respect and sensitivity for sexual boundaries of all kinds. And playing with occult rituals will lead to a blurring and eventual obliteration of one's spiritual fealty to God, and so to idol worship (in spirit, if not in deed).
One must always remember that what we do creates who we will be, and thus not to mock the influence on us of actions that are seemingly trivial and harmless in themselves. It is through our habits that we become either great, or slowly, imperceptibly into abominations.
