Tosefta untuk Ulangan 13:18

The one who sells his slave to an idolators fair, his money [that is, the money resulting from his sale] is prohibited and he must take it to the salt sea. They force his master to redeem him even for a hundred times the amount [for which the master had sold him], and then he sets him free. You find to say: the one who does business at an idolators fair: regarding a beast, it is hamstrung; clothing and vessels, they are left to rot; money and metal tools, one takes the benefit to the salt sea. Produce that is usually poured out is poured out, [that is usually] burnt is burnt, [that is usually] buried is buried. Rabbi Yosei says, one breaks idols and throws them into the wind or casts it into the sea. They said to him, it may even be made into manure, as it says, “Let nothing that has been doomed stick to your hand” (Deut 13:18). Rabbi Yosei said to them, it says, “As for that sinful thing you made . . . [I broke it to bits and ground it thoroughly until it was fine as dust, and I threw its dust into the brook that comes down from the mountain]” (Deut 9:21). They said to him, is that proof? [It has also been said,] “[He took the calf that they had made and burned it, he ground it to powder] and strewed it upon the water and made the Israelites drink it” (Exodus 32:20), teaching that he tested them the same way they test the suspected adulteress. Rabbi Yosei said to them, but it says, “They abandoned their idols there” (II Sam 5:21) and “He also deposed his mother Maakhah from the position of queen mother because had made an abominable thing [for Asherah].” (I Kings 15:13). They said to him: Is there any proof from there? “Asa cut down her abominable thing [and burnt it in Wadi Qidron]” (II Kings 15:13). Rabbi Yosei said to them, but it says, “He broke into pieces the bronze serpent” (II Kings 18:4). They said to him, was this an idol? Didn’t Moses make it? This teaches that Israel went astray after it until Chizqiyah and his son came.

The one who enters under [the asherah] is like one who entered a house of idolatry. If a public thoroughfare cuts through it, it is permitted. A Jew who trims an asherah: if for [the tree’s] benefit, it is prohibited; if for [the Jew’s] benefit, it is permitted; if for the benefit of both, it is prohibited. A person shouldn’t go up to the top of a pedestal even to disfigure it or to soil it because, as it says, “Let nothing that has been doomed stick to your hand” (Deut 13:18). A person should not say to his fellow, “Wait for me next to so-and-so’s idol” or “I will wait for you next to so-and-so’s idol,” as it says, “Make no mention of the names of other gods[, they shall not be heard on your lips” (Ex 23:13).

When the righteous come into the world, good comes into the world [with them], and divine retribution is removed from the world, and when they pass away from the world, divine retribution comes into the world, and good is removed from the world. When the evildoers come into the world, divine retribution comes into the world [with them], and good is removed from the world, and when they are removed from the world (i.e., when they die), good comes to the world and divine retribution is removed from the world. And from where is it derived that when the righteous come into the world, good comes into the world [with them] and divine retribution is removed from the world? As it is said (Gen. 5:29^*Note: Tanakh translations in this chapter generally follow JPS, 1985), "And [Lemekh] called his name Noah, saying, this one will bring us comfort from our labors, [from the ... ground, which God has cursed]." And from where is it derived that when they pass away from the world, divine retribution comes into the world and good is removed from the world? As it is said (Is. 57:1), "A righteous person perishes, and no one considers [... that because of evil the righteous one was taken away]," and it says (Is. 57:3) "But as for you, come closer, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of an adulterer, etc." And from where is it derived that when the evildoers come into the world, divine retribution comes to the world [with them] and good is removed from the world? As it is said (Prov. 18:3), "With the wicked man comes derision [and with the rogue, contempt]." And from where is it derived that when [the evildoers] are removed from this world, good comes into the world and divine retribution is removed from the world? As it is said (Prov. 11:10), "And when the wicked perish there are shouts of joy," and it says (Deut. 13:18), "In order that the Lord may turn from His blazing anger [and show you compassion]." Whenever there are evildoers in the world, there is "blazing anger" in the world, [but] when they have perished from the world, blazing anger is removed from world. And it is not that the righteous suspend the world with their lives alone, but also with their deaths, as it is said (Gen. 7:10), "And it was on the seventh day that the waters of the Flood [came upon the earth]." And what was the good of those seven days? So that [during] those seven days, they could mourn over Methuselah the Righteous, which held back the divine punishment [of the Flood] from coming onto the earth, and thus it is said, "And it was on the seventh day..." Another version: What was the good of those seven days? It teaches that the Place gave them seven days even after the decree, on the possibility that they would repent. And [clearly] they did not did so, as it is said, "And it was on the seventh day..." Another version: "And it was on the seventh day" -- what was the good of those seven days? It teaches that the Place altered the Order of Creation during them, and the sun rose in the west and set in the east. And thus it is said, "And it was on the seventh day..." Another version: What was the good of those seven days? It teaches that the Place gave them seven days of food and drink, and they sat and they ate and they drank, and [in that way] he showed them a small taste (מעין) of the World [to Come]. And why all of this? So that they would see, and recognize, and know what they had lost.