337. Which Shuls May Be Sold?

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 11:16

The preceding statements permitting the sale of a shul only apply in the case of a small town. Since the shul was only built for the sake of that town’s residents, they may sell it if they all agree to do so. A shul in a big city, however, potentially serves all the people in the world. Since travelers and visitors also use it, it is considered as property of the entire Jewish nation. As such, it may never be sold.

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 11:17

The residents of a town who want to sell their shul and use the proceeds to build another shul, or purchase an aron or a Torah, must make the sale conditional on the buyer not using the building for a bathhouse, a tannery, a mikvah or a laundry. If, at the time of the sale, the community officers publicly stipulated that the buyer may use the building for these purposes, then he may do so.