The Torah in Parashat Re’eh discusses the case of an Ir Ha’nidahat – a city whose inhabitants were led to worship foreign gods – and it commands that the entire city must be burned, together with all its property (Debarim 13:17). The Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that the Torah treats this situation with greater severity than an ordinary case of individuals who worship foreign deities, because it is far more grievous when a city’s population worships other gods all together, collectively. Therefore, the entire city must be burned.
For a city to be formally condemned as an “Ir Ha’nidahat,” at least two people from the city, who belong to the same tribe, must succeed in convincing the majority of the city’s population to worship a foreign deity. Those lured to foreign worship must number at least 100 people, but they must not comprise the majority of one of the tribes. If the majority of a tribe was led to foreign worship, then they are judged not as an “Ir Ha’nidahat,” but rather as individuals. They are executed by Sekila (stoning), and their property is not burned, but rather given to their inheritors.
This command is assigned to the Sanhedrin, who bears the obligation to carry out this punishment against the city. Of course, this Misva applies only in times when there is a Sanhedrin. If the judges are delinquent in this regard, and fail to carry out their responsibilities vis-à-vis an “Ir Ha’nidahat,” then they transgress this affirmative command. The Sefer Ha’hinuch warns that they will be severely punished, because by failing to properly respond to the city’s worship of foreign gods, they cause a proliferation of idol worship in the Land of Israel.
In this same verse, the Torah issues an additional command, forbidding rebuilding an “Ir Ha’nidahat” after it is burned – “Lo Tibaneh Od.” It is permissible to plant gardens and orchards on the site of the city, but it may not be made into a residential area like it had been previously. This Misva, naturally, applies only in the times of the Sanhedrin, when the obligation to burn an “Ir Ha’nidahat” applies. This command is binding upon both men and women.
The Torah then commands in the next verse, “Ve’lo Yidbak Be’yadecha Me’uma Min Ha’herem” – that nothing from the property of the “Ir Ha’nidahat” may “stick to your hand.” The Sages explained this to mean that it is forbidden to derive any sort of benefit from this property. Beyond the obligation to burn the city’s possessions, it is also forbidden to derive any benefit from them.