Selling a Synagogue

1. Townspeople who sold the town square may buy a synagogue with the proceeds. [If they sold] a synagogue, they may buy an ark with the proceeds. [If they sold] an ark, they may buy covers [for scrolls]. [If they sold] covers, they may buy scrolls [of the Tanakh]. [If they sold] scrolls, they may buy a Torah. But if they sold a Torah, they may not buy scrolls [of the Tanakh] with the proceeds. If [they sold] scrolls, they may not buy covers. If [they sold] covers, they may not buy an ark. If [they sold] an ark, they may not buy a synagogue. If [they sold] a synagogue, they may not buy a town square. The same applies to any money left over. They may not sell [something] belonging to a community because this lowers its sanctity—the words of R. Meir. They said to him: If so, it should not be allowed to sell from a larger town to a smaller one.

2. They may not sell a synagogue except with the stipulation that it may be bought back whenever they want—the words of R. Meir. But the sages say: They may sell it in perpetuity, except for four purposes, for it to become one of four things: a bathhouse, a tannery, a ritual bath, or a urinal. R. Judah says: They may sell it to be a courtyard, and the purchaser may do what he likes with it.

3. R. Judah said further: a synagogue that has fallen into ruins, they may not eulogize in it, nor twist ropes, nor spread nets [to trap animals], nor lay out produce on its roof [to dry], nor use it as a shortcut, as it says: And I will desolate your holy places (Leviticus 26:31)—their holiness remains even when they are desolate. If grass comes up in it, it should not be plucked, [in order to elicit] melancholy.