During the Second Temple period, the Sages decreed impurity upon eretz ha-amim, “the lands of the nations” – that is, places outside gevul olei Bavel where there was no organized Jewish settlement. The reason for the decree was that non-Jews would sometimes bury their dead directly in the ground, without a coffin. Over time, bones from the dead could become scattered, broken, and mixed into the earth until they were difficult to identify. Since even a bone from a corpse, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, imparts impurity through contact if it is at least the size of a barley grain, the Sages decreed that one who touches the earth of eretz ha-amim is treated as one who touched a corpse and becomes impure.
The decree had another purpose as well: to prevent Jews from leaving the bounds of Jewish settlement, for that was where the mitzva of settling the Land was being fulfilled properly. The Sages wanted Jewish settlement, and the sanctity that accompanied it, to spread gradually and firmly, rather than have Jews scatter among non-Jews in places that would not be regarded as truly possessed by the Jewish people. Indeed, the decree proved effective, as people refrained from leaving the area of Jewish settlement even temporarily. This is also reflected in the fact that they referred to places outside the area of Jewish settlement as “outside the Land” and eretz ha-amim, even when those places lay within the broader borders of Eretz Yisrael (Gittin 76b).[10]
Since kohanim are forbidden to become impure through contact with the dead, once the Sages decreed impurity upon eretz ha-amim, kohanim were prohibited from leaving gevul olei Bavel. They were permitted to leave only for a significant need, such as to protect their property, to marry, or to study Torah (Avoda Zara 13a). Today, when the laws of ritual purity are not practiced, kohanim may leave gevul olei Bavel. What remains is the general prohibition, which applies to every Jew, against leaving Eretz Yisrael. [11]
[10]. A bone fragment from a corpse, even one the size of a barley grain, imparts corpse impurity through contact and carrying, though not through ohel. Since non-Jews would bury their dead directly in the ground without a coffin, bones could sometimes rise to the surface, break apart, scatter, and become mixed into the earth. The Sages therefore decreed impurity upon the earth of eretz ha-amim – the soil of lands inhabited by non-Jews, including gevul olei Mitzrayim and Syria. They treated this earth as an avi avot ha-tum’a, the highest-level source of impurity. One who touches or carries it becomes impure for seven days and is purified through the sprinkling of water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer on the third and seventh days, followed by immersion and sunset. Teruma that comes into contact with it must be burned (Mishna, Ohalot 2:3; Shabbat 15b; MT, Laws of Corpse Impurity 2:16; 11:1–2).
There was another fundamental reason for the decree as well: to prevent Jews from leaving the area treated as the settled Land. This is the basis of the dispute among the Tanna’im in Mishna, Ḥalla 4:7. According to R. Eliezer, this impurity applied only beyond gevul olei Mitzrayim and Syria. In his view, the decree was meant to keep Jews from leaving the places where the mitzva of settling the Land had already been fulfilled, whether through national conquest or through kibbush yaḥid. This was so even though non-Jews lived within gevul olei Mitzrayim as well, and there too one could be concerned that bones from the dead had become mixed into the earth.
According to Rabban Gamliel, whose view is accepted as halakha, the decree applied to everything outside gevul olei Bavel. It seems that even according to him, the mitzva of settling the Land stood at the basis of the decree. The essence of the mitzva is that the Land be settled by the Jewish people. It is therefore fulfilled through settlement, which must expand gradually throughout all of Eretz Yisrael. For this reason, the Sages did not want Jews leaving the areas of organized Jewish settlement.
This is also what we find in Gittin 76b: the Sages refrained from passing beyond Akko “because it is forbidden to leave the Land for outside the Land.” But the area north of Akko is also part of Eretz Yisrael. Clearly, then, they meant that one may not leave the boundary of Jewish settlement, for that is where the mitzva of settling the Land is fulfilled properly.
Since gevul olei Mitzrayim was not properly settled by Jews, it also lacked courts that supervised halakhic matters. Therefore, the Sages enacted that an agent who brings a bill of divorce from gevul olei Mitzrayim must testify that it was written and signed in his presence. Without that testimony, the bill is not accepted, out of concern that it may not have been written and signed properly, as explained in Gittin 2a–b.
Leaving the Land itself entirely was treated more severely. Therefore, the Sages decreed impurity not only upon the earth of lands outside the Land, but even upon their airspace. Thus, one who rode on an animal through gevul olei Mitzrayim or Syria without touching the ground did not become impure; in those areas, only the earth itself was included in the decree. Once he crossed beyond the borders of the Land entirely, however, he became impure even without touching the ground, because outside the Land the decree included the airspace as well.
The impurity of the airspace is less severe: purification requires only immersion and sunset. Teruma that entered the airspace outside the Land is left in a suspended state – it may not be eaten, but it is not burned either (Gittin 8a; MT, Laws of Corpse Impurity 11:1–2; see Tosafot, Nazir 54b, s.v. eretz; Mishneh La-melekh to MT, Laws of Corpse Impurity 11:1; Kol Mevaser 1:63).
In addition to the decree of eretz ha-amim, there was a separate impurity concern even within gevul olei Bavel. Due to concern that miscarried fetuses may have been buried there, any place inhabited by non-Jews was treated as impure. Such places were known as madorot goyim, “non-Jewish dwellings” (Mishna, Ohalot 18:7; MT, Laws of Corpse Impurity 11:7). Once it became clear that the Kutim worshiped idols, the Sages likewise decreed impurity upon their land in Shomron, as they had upon gevul olei Mitzrayim; see Ḥagiga 25a; Tosafot, Ḥagiga 25a, s.v. she-retzu’a. In Kaftor Va-feraḥ, ch. 10, however, the author explains that the impurity of Shomron was due to madorot goyim – concern for miscarried fetuses buried in non-Jewish dwellings – and not because of eretz ha-amim.
[11]. Some authorities maintain that even today, when we no longer conduct ourselves in ritual purity, kohanim may not leave gevul olei Bavel. Just as a kohen may not become impure through contact with the dead even though he is already impure, so too, they maintain, he may not enter eretz ha-amim even today. This is the view of Rambam (MT, Laws of Mourning 3:14), SA, YD 372:1 and 369:1, and Shevut Yaakov 2:98.
Maharshal (YD 369), however, writes that the prohibition against kohanim leaving gevul olei Bavel applied only when kohanim were careful to maintain ritual purity. Today, when everyone has corpse impurity, this law no longer applies. This is also the view of Perisha, Baḥ, Shakh, Taz, R. Akiva Eger in the name of Maharikash, and Ḥokhmat Adam, Sha’ar Ha-simḥa 159:1. Since the entire impurity of eretz ha-amim is rabbinic, the halakha follows the lenient view. This is certainly true within the borders of the State of Israel, since the original purpose of the decree was to keep Jews from leaving the area of Jewish settlement, and today the entire territory of the State of Israel is considered part of that area, as explained below in section 17.
From the rules governing kohanim leaving gevul olei Bavel, we can also learn the general parameters of the prohibition that applies to every Jew against leaving Eretz Yisrael. One may leave for a significant need, such as livelihood, marriage, or Torah study, as Rambam explains (MT, Laws of Kings and Wars 5:9). Some maintain that even a brief departure is prohibited without a significant need, just as kohanim were prohibited from leaving even briefly without such a need. In my view, however, the cases are not parallel. The prohibition specific to kohanim applied even to a brief departure, because a kohen became impure immediately upon entering eretz ha-amim. The general prohibition against leaving Eretz Yisrael, by contrast, concerns a departure that has a settled or extended character; such a departure is permitted only for a significant need. A brief trip, such as one lasting less than a month, is permitted for any need, because it is temporary and does not undermine one’s permanent residence in the Land.
