Sanhedrin 67 – Instigator to Idolatry

An instigator might say, “There is a deity is such-and-such far-away place, thus it eats, thus it drinks, thus it benefits, thus it harms.”

If he says his words to two persons, they are his witnesses, even without a warning, and they bring him to court and stone him. If he says his remarks to one person, that person can entrap him, saying “I have more friends who are interested.” If the instigator is clever and refuses, they arrange witnesses behind a partition and he asks the instigator to repeat his words in private. He then says, “How can we forget our God in Heaven and worship wood and stones?” If the instigator retracts, this is good, but if not, the witnesses behind the partition take him to court.

A person named Yannai asked for a drink at a certain inn. He saw that the waitress's lips were moving and understood that she was engaged in sorcery. He poured off some liquid, and it turned into scorpions. He gave the waitress to drink and she became a donkey. He rode upon her and went out to the marketplace. Her friend came and dissolved the magic spell, and Yannai was thus seen riding upon a woman in the marketplace.

Art: Niko Pirosmanashvili - Healer on a Donkey