Sanhedrin 64A

הס, שלא להזכיר בשם ה׳, שלא לימדו אביו ואמו.

Hush, so as not to mention the name of YHWH (see Amos 6:10). The child did not want to even hear the mention of the name of YHWH, which his father and his mother did not teach him.

מיד הוציא יראתו מחיקו, ומחבקה ומנשקה, עד שנבקעה כריסו ונפלה יראתו לארץ, ונפל הוא עליה, לקיים מה שנאמר: ״ונתתי את פגריכם על פגרי גלוליכם״. בתר דאביקו ביה.

Immediately, the child removed his god from his bosom and began hugging it and kissing it, until his stomach burst from hunger, and his god fell to the earth and he fell upon it, in fulfillment of that which is stated: “And I should cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols” (Leviticus 26:30). This incident demonstrates that the Jewish people engaged in idol worship for its own sake. The Talmud answers: This also occurred after the Jewish people became attached to idol worship.

תא שמע: ״ויזעקו בקול גדול אל ה׳ אלהיהם״. מאי אמור? אמר רב יהודה, ואיתימא רב יונתן: בייא, בייא! היינו דאחרביה לביתא, וקליא להיכלא, וקטלינהו לצדיקי, ואגלינהו לישראל מארעייהו, ועדיין הוא מרקד בינן. כלום יהבתיה לן אלא לקבולי ביה אגרא? לא איהו בעינן ולא אגריה בעינן! בתר דאביקו ביה.

The Talmud suggests: Come and hear another proof, from the verse: “And they cried in a loud voice to YHWH their God” (Nehemiah 9:4). What did they say in that prayer? Rav Yehuda says, and some say it is Rav Yonatan who says: Woe, woe [baya, baya], this evil inclination for idol worship is what destroyed the Temple, and burned the Sanctuary, and murdered the righteous ones, and caused the Jewish people to be exiled from their land. And it still dances among us, i.e., it still affects us. Didn’t You give it to us solely for the purpose of our receiving reward for overcoming it? We do not want it, nor do we not want its reward. Evidently, the Jewish people were drawn to idol worship itself, and they did not worship idols only in order to engage in forbidden sex. The Talmud answers: This also occurred after the Jewish people became attached to idol worship.