Rabbi Shay Tahan

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Rabbi Shay Tahan

Between War and Worship: Halacha and Avodah Zarah in Military Reality

A video recently emerged from Lebanon showing an incident in which an IDF soldier was seen damaging a statue of Jesus. The event quickly drew attention, not only because of the act itself, but also due to the sensitive religious and communal context in which it occurred.
In a region where religious symbols carry deep meaning and identity, such incidents often resonate far beyond their immediate setting. In this article, however, we will not address the broader questions of respect for religious expression, the responsibilities of individuals in positions of authority, or the balance required in diverse societies. Rather, we will focus solely on the halachic perspective: what does halacha say about the destruction of idols and statues associated with idol worship?
The Torah commands the destruction of idolatry in all its forms—its statues, sacred trees, altars, and vessels of worship. As it states:
“Rather, you shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down their sacred trees” (Shemot 34:13).
Similarly, the Torah instructs: “You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you are dispossessing served their gods—upon the high mountains, upon the hills, and under every leafy tree. You shall tear down their altars, shatter their pillars, burn their sacred trees in fire, cut down the carved images of their gods, and obliterate their name from that place” (Devarim 12:2–3).
And again: “When Hashem your God brings you into the land… and casts out many nations before you… this is what you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their sacred trees, and burn their idols in fire” (Devarim 7:1–5).
These psukim establish a clear and forceful mandate: idolatry and all that is associated with it are to be actively removed and destroyed.
This is also the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 146:14). However, the Rambam (Hilchot Avodah Zarah 7:1) explains that this obligation does not apply outside the Land of Israel unless the land is under Jewish control. When the territory is not ours, we are not commanded to act against such objects.
Another important point is that a statue which is not actually worshipped, but serves only a symbolic or decorative purpose is not considered avodah zarah and does not fall into that category at all.
The Rema (Yoreh De’ah 141:1) writes that a cross can be considered avodah zarah. However, this applies specifically to a cross that is actually worshipped. A cross made for other purposes—such as jewelry worn on a chain—is not included in this prohibition.
In this context, “worship” refers to acts such as bowing or performing forms of reverence toward the object; without such practices, the item does not attain the status of avodah zarah.
The question then arises: when we encounter such a statue, how are we to determine whether it was actually worshipped?
The Shach (se’if katan 6) writes that in cases of doubt one should be stringent. However, his discussion relates to deriving benefit from such an object; he does not state that one may take active steps to destroy it, which would be a more assertive action.
At the same time, many other poskim maintain that in cases of uncertainty we may assume that the object was not worshipped. This is also the ruling of Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yechave Daat, vol. 3, 65).
To summarize, there are three reasons why the vandalism of the statue was not justified:
a) We are not permitted to go around breaking idols that are not under our jurisdiction or responsibility.
b) The statue in question is not considered avodah zarah, since it was not actually worshipped.
c) Gentiles are permitted to erect statues that are not intended for worship, and therefore the object does not fall under the halachic category of forbidden idolatry.
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