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Barukh atah Havaya Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei-Torah. |
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסק בְּדִבְרֵי-תורָה |
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- resting place, state or condition of rest, place
- resting place
- rest, repose, condition of rest
- coming to rest
- resting place, state or condition of rest, place
Jewish law demands that everyone have adequate and permanent housing.
The parallel themes of homelessness and wandering pervade the Bible and Jewish history. In the first chapters of the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Abraham begins his relationship with God by leaving his native land, and Jacob and his sons leave their own home to go down to Egypt. After the Exodus, the Israelites journey through the wilderness, homeless, for 40 years. The destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem is followed by 70 years of exile, and the destruction of the second Temple in 70 C.E. is followed by two millennia of national homelessness, which ended only with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
It is no wonder, then, that Jewish law (halakhah) attempts to guarantee housing stability. Though powerless to grant the Jewish people a permanent home, halakhah can at least help to assure individual members a stable place to live.
A Religious Duty
A few Jewish sources explicitly speak of the provision of housing as a means of tzedakah (charity). Most famous among these texts is the exhortation in Isaiah to “take the poor into your homes,” read as the Haftarah on Yom Kippur. This prophetic cry defines the relief of homelessness as a religious duty, preferable to fasts, sacrifices, and other ritual observances.
[Discussion of laws of Sukkot]
From this discussion of the sukkah, we can infer that permanent housing should allow a person to live a full and dignified life year-round, and not only for a week. Furthermore, permanent housing, unlike a sukkah, should look permanent. That is, it should be stable enough that anyone would recognize it as a place in which a person might live indefinitely. In the contemporary context, we might consider whether a homeless shelter or transitional housing would meet these criteria of being a place in which people can live with dignity for an indefinite period of time.
Jewish law does not explicitly discuss the mechanism by which we provide permanent housing to the poor, but simply assumes that, in a functional society, the poor have stable housing. The question for us might be: What is the most effective way for us to create the society envisioned by Jewish law?
One who rents out a house to another during the rainy season cannot evict the renter from the Sukkot until Passover [i.e. during winter.] If the rental was in the summer, the owner must give thirty days’ notice. And for a house located in the cities [uvakerakim,] both in the summer and in the rainy season [winter] the owner must give twelve months’ notice. And for shops, both in towns and in cities, twelve months’ notice. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: For a baker’s shop or a dyer’s shop, one must give three years’ notice.
משנה תורה הִלְכּוֹת מְזוּזָה ו:א
עֲשָׂרָה תְּנָאִין יֵשׁ בַּבַּיִת, וְאַחַר כָּךְ יִתְחַיַּב הַדָּר בּוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת לוֹ מְזוּזָה, וְאִם חָסֵר תְּנָאי אֶחָד מֵהֶן, פָּטוּר מִן הַמְּזוּזָה; וְאֵלּוּ הֶן: שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בּוֹ אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת עַל אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת אוֹ יָתֵר, וְשֶׁיִּהְיֶה לוֹ שְׁתֵּי מְזוּזוֹת, וְיִהְיֶה לוֹ מַשְׁקוֹף, וְתִהְיֶה לוֹ תַּקְרָה, וְיִהְיוּ לוֹ דְּלָתוֹת, וְיִהְיֶה גֹּבַהּ הַשַּׁעַר עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים אוֹ יָתֵר, וְיִהְיֶה בֵּית חֹל, וְיִהְיֶה עָשׂוּי לְדִירַת אָדָם, וְעָשׂוּי לְדִירַת כָּבוֹד, וְעָשׂוּי לְדִירַת קְבָע.
Mishneh Torah Laws of Mezzuza 6:1
There are 10 conditions that a house must meet in order for the resident to be obligated to put up a mezuzah… It must be at least 4 amot (1 amah = 18 inches) by 4 amot. It must have 2 doorposts. It must have a lintel (horizontal structure spanning the opening). It must have a roof. It must have doors. The gate must be 10 t’fachim (1 tefach = 3 inches) or higher. It must be for ordinary purposes. It must be made as a place for people to live. It must be made as an honorable place. It must be made as a permanent place (translation by Rabbi Jill Jacobs).
For our teachers
and their students
and the students of the students
We ask for peace and lovingkindness
And let us say, amen.
And for those who study Torah, here and everywhere:
May they be blessed with all they need
and let us say, amen.
May there be peace and lovingkindness
and let us say, amen!