Surprising instruction: it is mandatory to sell the house to buy shoes

A person faced with two choices: a house or shoes, the instruction imposed on him is to sell the house to buy shoes. The reason is related, among other things, to the fact that the earth is generally cursed

Surprising instruction: it is mandatory to sell the house to buy shoes

What would happen if a person had a choice between two things: a house or shoes, what should he choose? The Talmud answers this surprising question. Rabbi Yehuda in the name of a rabbi said that "a person will never sell the beams of his house and take shoes at his feet," that is, if the option is either a house or shoes, you must sell the house so that you have money to buy shoes. 

Why? Because man should be respected, and man has no greater disgrace than to be barefoot. Rabbi Chaim David Kowalski, presenter of the digital gemara, explained the meaning of this teaching, and he quoted from Rabbi Zvi Elimelech Shapira Madinov's book, according to which the role of shoes is to "divide between man and earth. The earth has been cursed since the first man sinned. "After the sin, the earth was cursed as it is written," It will not add to your power "- that is, the earth will not volunteer its power of its own accord, and man will have to work hard to get his powers out of the earth. 

From the moment the ground was cursed, Rabbi Kowalski added, a person should wear shoes to separate himself from the curse. Therefore, no shoes were worn in the temple as it was a sacred and blessed place. 

Sell ​​your house to buy shoes. Illustration (Photo: realtor.com)

A house for sale with a challenging design (Photo: realtor.com, official website)

And for that another question is asked, will a person who treads on cursed land also become cursed? Why is this supposed to bother us? "The answer is no," states Rabbi Kowalski. "But a person should respect himself. Once he does not respect himself, others will not respect him. And with respect the intention is to treat with due importance the body given to Gd and the soul he gave within it. A person who does not respect himself may also lose Gd's image in him." 

And so it is true not only about clothes. A man wants to get the most out of his children? Respect them. Maximum of his employees? Respect them. Do you want to get the most out of your life? Respect yourself. Therefore, the Talmud states that one should sell the house to buy shoes, if he has no other choice. 

Cursed land. Carotid earthquake (Photo: Reuters)

Earthquake in Croatia, 22.3.2020 (Photo: Reuters)

Want to learn more topics according to the Gemara? This is your chance to join the digital gemara venture. This is a project in which you will watch a daily video clip based on the daily page presented by Rabbi Kowalski, founder and head of the Maorot Daf Yomi organization. As part of this, each person can be part of hundreds of thousands in Israel and around the world who take care to regularly study one page of Gemara a day, by watching a short daily video clip.

The passage is based on the full daily video in Tractate Shabbat Daf Kakt, which is also published on the digital Gemara website. In this section, you will meet daily at significant and fascinating points related to daily life, based on the daily study of the Gemara. The project is free of charge for its participants.

Why is the earth cursed? Tractate Shabbat, Daf Kakt