3,219. The Two Sanctifications of the Land

Terumos 1:4

In some ways Syria is like Israel and in some ways it’s like the lands outside of Israel. Buying real estate in Syria is like buying land in Israel when it comes to terumah, tithes and shemittah (the Sabbatical year). The rules that apply to Syria are based on rabbinic enactments.

Terumos 1:5

All the land that the Jews who came from Egypt acquired was consecrated in the first sanctification. When the Jews were exiled, that sanctity was voided because the first sanctification was based on conquest. It was therefore only in effect so long as they maintained sovereignty, but it wasn’t permanent. When the descendants of those exiled returned and took possession of some of the land, they consecrated it again, permanently that time. Regarding places that were settled by those who came from Egypt but not by those who returned from Babylonian exile, they were reverted to their previous sanctified state; they were not exempted from terumah and tithes so that the needy would be able to rely on them in shemittah. Rav Yehuda Hanasi exempted Beis Shan of those places that the returnees from Babylonia didn’t retake. He also ruled that Ashkelon should be exempt from tithes.