Negative commandment · Lo Ta’aseh #30 of 613
Not to follow the laws or customs of the worshipers of false gods
שלא ללכת בחוקות עובדי עבודה זרה ולא במנהגותם
The verse · Vayikra 20:23
וְלֹא תֵלְכוּ בְּחֻקֹּת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ מִפְּנֵיכֶם כִּי אֶת־כׇּל־אֵלֶּה עָשׂוּ וָאָקֻץ בָּם
“And you shall not walk in the practices of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.”
The Rambam’s words
Not to follow the laws or customs of the worshipers of false gods, as [Leviticus 20:23] states: "Do not follow the practices of the nation [that I am driving out before you]...."
שלא ללכת בחוקות עובדי עבודה זרה ולא במנהגותם, שנאמר "ולא תלכו בחוקות הגוי" (ויקרא כ,כג).
Why · Sefer HaChinuch #262
To not follow the practices of the gentiles
“It is from the roots of the commandment [that it is] in order to distance ourselves from them and disparage all of their customs, and even in dress.”
Who & when
“And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females.”
Where in the Mishneh Torah
Hilchot Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגויים