[Avodah] Destroying Pagan Idols

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

>From R' Eliezer Eisenberg's blog "Beis Vaad L'Chachamim" (so named because
he wants a dialog and posts are routintely enhanced in light of comments).
<http://beisvaad.blogspot.com/2016/08/eikev-devarim-725-destroying-pagan-idols.html>
a/k/a <http://j.mp/2bLRLFX>

Does the chiyuv to destroy AZ trump property rights? Is bittul a better
approach, especialy in light of the potential for eivah?

:-)BBii!
-Micha

    Eikev, Devarim 7:25. Destroying Pagan Idols

    This week, before our  Daf Yomi shiur began, one of the talmidim wanted
    to ask a general information question. That day, Ahmad Faqi al-Mahdi, a
    former Malian rebel leader associated with al-Qaida, pleaded guilty at
    the International Criminal Court to destroying priceless monuments in
    Timbuktu in 2012. Under The Rome Statute of 1998 that established the
    International Criminal Court, the destruction of cultural heritage can
    be prosecuted as a war crime. The question asked was whether we have a
    mitzva to do as he did, to destroy what we pasken is Avoda Zara.
    I found the question offensive, because it hinted at a commonality
    between the rapist slave trading bloodthirsty beasts of ...

    In any case, the fact is that the Gemara seems to use this mitzva is a
    prototype of mitzvos that apply in or out of the land of Israel and at
    all times.
    Kiddushin 36b:
    ...
    As the poskim say:
    [Tur & SA YD 156:15] ....
    There is, however, the Ramban as brought in the Ritva in Kiddushin 37a,
    Regarding the halacha of Ibbud Avoda Zara, he says
    ...
    The Ramban, of course, learns that [the gemara] only meant that the
    issur to worship Avoda Zara applies in and outside the land, but
    the mitzva to destroy it does not.
    True, the Sefer Hamikneh there wants to learn the Ramban as
    distinguishing between the chiyuv inside and outside Eretz Yisrael only
    as far as [lsharesh achareha], but it's hard to see that in the Ramban.
    ... The Ramban is slightly similar to the Rambam in that they both
    hold ...
    mitzva to destroy Avoda Zara, inside or outside Eretz Yisrael. However,
    I'm not sure the mitzva trumps property rights. It is possible that if
    the AZ belongs to someone, you would not be allowed to destroy it.
    Also, bittul would be mattir, and the bittul could be done by any
    non-Jew, (although perhaps not a Muslim, who has no shaychus to Avoda
    Zara.) And I'm sure the mitzva does not trump the need to live at peace
    with the nations of the world, certainly the nations that are helpful
    to us. The time that we could blithely antagonize everyone was very
    brief and that certainly does not pertain today.