09-06-2008, 09:30 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-06-2008, 09:34 AM by Director Michael.)
Hello greenjuice,
Sorry to say that you have taken information from an unreliable web site. "Mitzvah 185" is a Jewish commandment, and the source verse actually reads (Deuteronomy 12:2): "You [the Jewish people] shall surely destroy all the places where the nations FROM WHOM YOU [the Jewish people] SHALL TAKE POSSESSION [in the Holy Land] worshiped their gods ..."
A Gentile is only obligated to destroy OR NULLIFY actual idols that come into his or her own possession. In other words, if the Gentile wants to use the physical object of the idol for some personal benefit (instead of destroying it), he or she has to first nullify the idol. This means damaging it in some way that makes in unfit to be worshiped by the idolators (e.g. breaking off the nose from a human statue).
Also, any Gentile (even a righteous Noahide) can nullify any idol for his own use or the use of any other Gentile. The rules are more restrictive as to who can nullify an idol to make it permissible for a Jew to benefit from it.
Sorry to say that you have taken information from an unreliable web site. "Mitzvah 185" is a Jewish commandment, and the source verse actually reads (Deuteronomy 12:2): "You [the Jewish people] shall surely destroy all the places where the nations FROM WHOM YOU [the Jewish people] SHALL TAKE POSSESSION [in the Holy Land] worshiped their gods ..."
A Gentile is only obligated to destroy OR NULLIFY actual idols that come into his or her own possession. In other words, if the Gentile wants to use the physical object of the idol for some personal benefit (instead of destroying it), he or she has to first nullify the idol. This means damaging it in some way that makes in unfit to be worshiped by the idolators (e.g. breaking off the nose from a human statue).
Also, any Gentile (even a righteous Noahide) can nullify any idol for his own use or the use of any other Gentile. The rules are more restrictive as to who can nullify an idol to make it permissible for a Jew to benefit from it.