Halakhah su Levitico 25:24

The Mishnah, Avodah Zarah 19b, expressly forbids the sale of real estate in Israel to non-Jews. The Gemara explains that this prohibition is derived from the biblical injunction "lo teḥanem," (Deut. 7:2), which, according to rabbinic exegesis, is to be understood as meaning "You shall not grant them permanent encampment (ḥaniyah)." Rambam, Hilkhot Avodah Zarah 10:4, amplifies this statement with the explanation, "For if they will not own land, their inhabitance will be temporary." Ramban, in his commentary on the Bible, Leviticus 25:23, finds that conveyance of land to a non-Jew involves yet another transgression. Scripture provides that all fields revert to their original owners in the jubilee year, and explicitly commands, "and the land shall not be sold in perpetuity." Ramban understands this verse as banning the sale of land to a non-Jew since the latter would retain permanent possession and not return the land to its original owner in the jubilee year. The verse concludes with the explanation "for the land is Mine," indicating that in actuality the land is the possession of God and that it is only by virtue of His largesse that man is permitted to dwell in, and derive enjoyment from, his terrestrial habitat. Accordingly, this passage gives expression to the divine will that Israel be the homeland of the Jewish people and that they not be displaced by foreign land-owners. According to Ramban, the purchase of land in Israel from a non-Jew constitutes a fulfillment of the commandment "You shall give a redemption unto the land" (Lev. 25:24). Rabbi Bakshi-Duran argues that, according to Ramban, there is yet another source militating against the sale of dwellings or fields in Israel to a non-Jew. According to Ramban, the verse "And you shall inherit the land and dwell therein" (Deut. 11:31) is not simply a prophetic prognostication or a divine promise but constitutes a positive commandment. Ramban comments, "We have been commanded to inhabit the land which God gave to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that we not allow it to remain in the possession of any other nation or allow it to be desolate." Rabbi Bakshi-Duran understands the second clause in Ramban's comment as referring not to the establishment of political sovereignty but to actual ownership of territory. Thus any act which results in a non-Jew acquiring title to any portion of the land of Israel constitutes a violation of the commandment concerning settlement of Erez Yisra'el.

The commandment of returning land to its owners on the Jubilee: To return all the lands - whether a house, or a field, or a vineyard or orchards - to their owners without money and without a price on the Jubilee year, as it is stated (Leviticus 25:24), "And in all the land of your holding, you shall give redemption to the land." [This is] to say in all the Land of Israel, which is your holding, you shall give redemption to the land. And Scripture elucidated the matter of redemption - which is return of the land to its owner; and as it is written (Leviticus 25:13), "In this jubilee year, each man shall return to his holding."