Avodah Zarah 44 – How to Properly Dispose of an Idol

Rabbi Yose says, “He may grind the idol and scatter it into the wind, or cast it into the sea,” but the Sages says that even so it becomes a fertilizer. Their argument is this: both fertilizer and the soil cause the plant to grow. Rabbi Yose says that the combined effect of prohibited and permitted substance is permitted, but the Sages say that it is still prohibited.

Proclos the Philosopher inquired of Rabban Gamliel while the latter was bathing in the bathhouse of Aphrodite, “It is written in your Torah that nothing of the banned property shall adhere to your hand, why then do you bathe in the bathhouse of Aphrodite?” Rabban Gamliel first said that one may not answer in a bathhouse. After he left, he said, “I did not come into her domain, rather, she came into my domain. Furthermore, she is an adornment to the bathhouse, not the other way around. And we treat her not like god is permitted to be treated by standing here naked and urinating, therefore, she is not an idol that is prohibited.”

Art: Camille Pissarro - Young Woman Bathing Her Feet