Maisit


The Torah distinguishes two types of enticers to idolatry: mesit is a Jew who seduces an individual to idolatry, while a madiach is someone who publicly entices many into idolatry. An enticer to idolatry may be both.
Enticement to idolatry in Judaism is a capital offence under the Law of Moses.

Rabbinic interpretation

The crime of the enticer to idolatry was so serious and dangerous that in some cases some legal requirements of due process could be relaxed in order to entrap the enticer.
The halakhot regarding a mesit and madiach may be found in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah: Sefer haMada: Avodat Kokhavim : Chapter Five.
Five negative commandments regarding the mesit are derived from just one verse, Deut. 13:9 ; they are:
  1. Not to love a mesit
  2. Not to reduce one's hatred for him
  3. Not to save his life
  4. Not to advance any arguments on his behalf
  5. Not to withhold information that will lead to his conviction
A person is a mesit if for example he tells a colleague, "I will worship a false deity. I will go and worship..." or "Let us go and worship..." That is, whether he entices his fellow in singular or plural terms. When he proselytizes two individuals, they may serve as witnesses against him. They should summon him to court and testify against him, relating what he told them, and the mesit is stoned.
Considering the extreme stance Deuteronomy 13 takes regarding to enticement to idolatry, Chazal list numerous detail that project the unique methods required to deal with the enticer;
  1. Even if the enticee did not worship idolatry in action the enticer is still liable to death
  2. The enticer is liable to death even without the normal process of warning
  3. It is legal for the witnesses to conceal themselves when visualizing the enticer in action
  4. It is legal to withhold witness material that could potentially save the enticer
  5. The enticed person himself is obliged to bring the enticer to the stoning area
  6. Public announcement of an impending execution of the enticer is required
Although the original context of Deuteronomy is paganism, in some later rabbinic interpretation the passage about the "enticer" was also applied to Christian proselytism.