Shemos 3:5 · unit 2 — remove your shoes

Parashas Shemos

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַל־תִּקְרַ֣ב הֲלֹ֑ם שַׁל־נְעָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֵעַ֣ל רַגְלֶ֔יךָ כִּ֣י הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ עוֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו אַדְמַת־קֹ֖דֶשׁ הֽוּא׃

And [GodcGod See note at v. 4.] said, “Do not come closer! Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground!”

Chabad.org — 3:5

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to TT / Berachos (verified).

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text

של נעליך — מכאן אמרו: אסור לרקוק בהר הבית, קל וחומר ממנעל.

English: “Remove your shoes” — from here they said: It is forbidden to spit on the Temple Mount, a fortiori from a shoe.

On the daf / in context: If footwear, which is not inherently degrading, must be removed on holy ground, then an act of open disrespect is certainly forbidden. The same verse underwrites the general prohibition of wearing shoes on the Temple Mount.

Type of Learning

Yishmael # (kal vachomer)

What Is Learned

Chazal derive from the command to remove shoes both the specific rule for the Temple Mount and the a-fortiori ban on spitting there.

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