Q&A: Settling the Land
Originally published:
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Settling the Land
Question
Hello Rabbi.
- I wanted to ask: why is it stated in the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 13 and parallel sources), in Shulchan Arukh Yoreh De’ah 372, and in Maimonides, regarding the prohibition of leaving the Land, that a priest is permitted to become impure through the impurity of the lands of the nations for the sake of a commandment, etc.? (Unlike Maimonides in Laws of Kings, chapter 9, halakha 10, where he did not distinguish and wrote in general terms.) My question is: is an ordinary Jew really permitted to leave without any need? R
Answer
According to the plain sense of the Talmud, the basis of the prohibition is the concern that the gentiles did not bury their dead, and not because of a prohibition on leaving the Land. However, Tosafot on Nazir 54 wrote that that is also a factor.
In any case, there are practical differences. Here are some of them:
- Even if there is a prohibition on leaving for abroad, for priests there is also a prohibition on being there (that is, being in a state of impurity, and not only on going there).
- Beyond that, for priests there is a double prohibition: both leaving and becoming impure.
- In the lands of the nations, even its soil conveys impurity, so if one touched earth from the lands of the nations, even if that earth was moved and is now in the Land, he becomes impure (Sabbath 15b). However, this applies only to its soil and not to its airspace.
- A Nazirite who becomes impure nullifies his Naziriteship period (Mishnah Nazir there).
- If he entered in a moving tent (Gittin 8b).