{"id":12221,"date":"2026-07-12T00:04:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T21:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12221"},"modified":"2026-08-05T14:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:12:24","slug":"17-12-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-12-04\/","title":{"rendered":"04. The Exile and the Destruction of the First Temple"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe were exiled \u2013 in the year 3188 from Creation, about 150 years before the destruction of the First Temple \u2013 shevi\u2019it<\/em> and yovel<\/em> ceased to apply by Torah law. The Torah states with regard to yovel<\/em>: \u201cYou shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants\u201d (Vayikra 25:10). The Sages explain that yovel<\/em> applies only when all its inhabitants are in the Land, not when some of them have been exiled. Once yovel<\/em> no longer applies by Torah law, shevi\u2019it<\/em> no longer applies by Torah law either (Arakhin<\/em> 32b; Gittin<\/em> 36a; see Peninei Halakha: Shemita Ve-yovel <\/em>1:9 and 5:3 for the reason). At that point, however, terumot<\/em> and ma\u2019asrot<\/em> still applied by Torah law. Although shevi\u2019it<\/em> itself was then observed only by rabbinic enactment or as a matter of custom, the years were still counted according to the Torah\u2019s shevi\u2019it<\/em> cycle, and that count determined the order of the tithes \u2013 when ma\u2019aser sheni<\/em> was separated and when ma\u2019aser ani<\/em> was separated. See MT, Laws of Shemita Ve-yovel 10:5 and Tosafot, Arakhin<\/em> 12b, s.v. hanakh shanei<\/em>.<\/p>\n

About eighteen years after that, in the year 3206 from Creation, \u1e25alla<\/em>, terumot<\/em>, and ma\u2019asrot<\/em> also ceased to apply by Torah law, because most of the Jewish people were no longer in the Land. With the destruction of the First Temple, the sanctity that had served as the basis for the national-collective land-dependent mitzvot was annulled. This affected \u1e25alla<\/em> and teruma<\/em>, which are given to kohanim; ma\u2019aser rishon<\/em>, given to levi\u2019im; ma\u2019aser sheni<\/em>, eaten in Jerusalem; ma\u2019aser ani<\/em>, given to the poor; and shevi\u2019it<\/em> and yovel<\/em>. What all these mitzvot have in common is that they depend on the national condition of the Jewish people in their Land. Some depend on most of the Jewish people being in the Land; others, such as shevi\u2019it<\/em> and yovel<\/em>, depend on all the tribes dwelling in their inheritances. Therefore, when that national order collapsed, the basis for these mitzvot lapsed as well. This is what the Sages meant when they said: \u201cThe first sanctification sanctified for its time but not for the future\u201d (\u1e24ullin<\/em> 7a). In other words, the first sanctification of the Land was annulled with the destruction of the First Temple.<\/p>\n

Individual land-dependent mitzvot, by contrast, such as orla<\/em> and kilayim<\/em>, continue to apply by Torah law even after the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people. Since their obligation began when the nation entered the Land, before the conquest and division into inheritances, destruction and exile do not annul that obligation. [5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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[5]<\/a>. Communal-national land-dependent mitzvot depend on the Land having been sanctified by the Jewish people, either through conquest, as in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun, or through settlement, as in the days of Ezra, as Rambam explains (MT, Laws of Terumot 1:2, 5; Laws of the Temple 6:16). Shemita<\/em> and yovel<\/em> require an additional condition: the majority of each tribe must be living in its inheritance (Arakhin<\/em> 32b). Therefore, their Torah obligation ceased when the tribes of Reuven and Gad were exiled. According to the view that Yirmiyahu later returned the ten tribes to their inheritances, shemita<\/em> and yovel<\/em> again applied by Torah law at that time (Arakhin<\/em> 33a; see Peninei Halakha: Shemita Ve-yovel<\/em> 5, note 3).<\/p>\n

\u1e24alla<\/em> does not require each tribe to be settled in its inheritance, but it does require the majority of the Jewish people to be in the Land; only then does the Torah obligation apply (below, section 10). Therefore, the Torah obligation to separate \u1e25alla<\/em> ceased already with the exile of the ten tribes, before the destruction of the Temple.<\/p>\n

Regarding terumot<\/em> and ma\u2019asrot<\/em>, the authorities disagree. According to many Rishonim, the Torah obligation to separate them ceased at the time of the destruction (Rashi, Raavad, Rashba, Ran, and many others). According to Rambam, terumot<\/em> and ma\u2019asrot<\/em> follow the same rule as \u1e25alla<\/em>: one is obligated by Torah law only when the majority of the Jewish people are in the Land. Their Torah obligation therefore ceased already with the exile of the ten tribes (MT, Laws of Terumot 1:26). I wrote above in accordance with this view, since it is the position of most A\u1e25aronim.<\/p>\n

Even according to Rambam, it appears that the sanctity underlying these mitzvot remained in place until the destruction of the First Temple. Therefore, before the destruction, if the majority of the Jewish people had returned to the Land, the Torah obligation to separate \u1e25alla<\/em>, terumot<\/em>, and ma\u2019asrot<\/em> would have resumed automatically, without any new act of sanctification, even under foreign rule. After the destruction, however, the original sanctity had been nullified; even if the majority of the Jewish people had returned, these mitzvot could not have resumed by Torah law without a new sanctification of the Land (Mahari Kurkus, Laws of Shemita Ve-yovel 12:15; Derekh Emuna<\/em>, Laws of Terumot 1:51).<\/p>\n

The first sanctification also served as the basis for the second. This is evident from the law of cities that had been walled since the days of Yehoshua bin Nun. Their sanctity has several practical consequences: if a house in such a city is sold, it becomes permanently acquired by the buyer after one year and does not return to the original owner at yovel<\/em>; a metzora<\/em> must be sent out of the city; and it is forbidden to sow the city\u2019s open area, which extends one thousand amot<\/em> in every direction.<\/p>\n

The Gemara records a dispute among the Tanna\u2019im about these cities (Arakhin<\/em> 32b). According to one view, those who ascended from Babylonia did not need to sanctify them again, because \u201cthe first sanctification sanctified for its time and for the future.\u201d According to the other view, \u201cWhen the exiles ascended, they found these [cities that had originally been sanctified] and sanctified them,\u201d because the original sanctity had been nullified when the sanctity of the Land was nullified. Even according to this second view, however, the second sanctification did not stand on its own. The first sanctification, achieved through conquest, remained the basis upon which the second sanctification, achieved through settlement, could take effect. As the A\u1e25aronim explain, Ezra could sanctify only cities that Yehoshua bin Nun had already sanctified (Turei Even<\/em>, Megilla<\/em> 10a; Mishneh La-melekh<\/em> to MT, Laws of Shemita Ve-yovel 12:15; Derekh Emuna<\/em> there, BHL, s.v. keivan<\/em>; see Min\u1e25at \u1e24inukh<\/em> 340:1, s.v. u-mevo\u2019ar<\/em>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe were exiled \u2013 in the year 3188 from Creation, about 150 years before the destruction of the First Temple \u2013 shevi\u2019it and yovel ceased to apply by Torah law. The Torah states with regard to yovel: \u201cYou shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-12"],"yoast_head":"\n04. 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