128. Activities Prohibited as Idolatrous
Avodas Kochavim 3:3
The prohibition against serving idols is found in Exodus 20:5: “Do not serve them.” This applies to services other than bowing, slaughtering animals, bringing burnt offerings, and pouring libations. One who performs one of these four types of service to any idol is liable to execution even though it is not the way the idol is normally served. For example, one who poured a libation to Peor or slaughtered an animal to Mercury would be liable as per Exodus 22:19: “Whoever slaughters to any power other than God will be sentenced to death.” This is true even if one does not normally slaughter to this idol. Slaughtering (stated in the verse) is just an example of what it means to serve. This form of service was singled out to teach us that slaughtering is form of service reserved for God; whoever slaughters to an idol is liable to execution. The same is true for any other service that is reserved for God: if someone performs one of these services for an idol, he is liable. Similarly, Exodus 34:14, “Do not bow down to another ‘god.’” This teaches us that one is liable for bowing down to an idol even if that is not the idol’s usual mode of service. The same applies to one bringing a burnt offering and pouring a libation; sprinkling blood is the same as pouring a libation.
Avodas Kochavim 3:4
One is liable for pouring a libation even if he empties a chamber pot in front of an idol. If he slaughters a locust to the idol, he is not liable unless that is the usual form of service for that idol. Similarly, if one slaughters an animal missing a limb to an idol, he would not be liable unless that is the idol’s usual service.
Let’s say that a certain idol is typically served by hitting it with a staff. If one breaks a staff in front of the idol, he is liable for idolatry and the staff is no longer permitted to be used. If he threw a staff in front of the idol, he is liable but the staff is not prohibited. This is because throwing a staff is not the same as sprinkling blood; a staff stays as it was before being thrown, while blood splatters.
One who accepts any non-god as a deity is liable to the penalty of stoning. Even one who picks up a brick and says, “You are my god” is liable. Even if the offender immediately retracts his statement and says, “This is not my god,” it is of no consequence and he is liable to execution.