Kiddushin, Daf Lammed Zayin, Part 2
Introduction
The Talmud now asks how we know the rule that mitzvoth dependent on land (soil) are obligatory in the land of Israel and those not dependent on land are obligatory everywhere. The section expounds on Deuteronomy 12:1 which reads in full:
אֵ֠לֶּה הַֽחֻקִּ֣ים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְר֣וּן לַעֲשׂוֹת֒ בָּאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֩ נָתַ֨ן יְהוָ֜ה אֱלֹהֵ֧י אֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ לְךָ֖ לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ כָּל־הַיָּמִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם חַיִּ֖ים עַל־הָאֲדָמָֽה׃
These are the laws and rules that you must carefully observe in the land that the LORD, God of your fathers, is giving you to possess, as long as you live on earth.
מנה"מ דת"ר (דברים יב, א) אלה החוקים אלו המדרשות
והמשפטים אלו הדינים
אשר תשמרון זו משנה
לעשות זו מעשה
בארץ יכול כל המצות כולן לא יהו נוהגים אלא בארץ ת"ל (דברים יב, א) כל הימים אשר אתם חיים על האדמה
אי כל הימים יכול יהו נוהגים בין בארץ בין בח"ל ת"ל בארץ
How do we know these things? For our Rabbis taught: These are the laws this refers to midrashim;
And the rules this refers to civil law;
Which you shall observe this refers to [the study of the] Mishnah;
To do this refers to actual practice;
In the land : I might have thought that all mitzvoth are practiced in the Land only. Therefore it is stated, All the days that you live on the earth.
If all the days I might have thought that [all commandments] must be practiced both inside and outside the Land, therefore Scripture says: in the Land.
The baraita interprets each phrase in the verse as referring to a different aspect of rabbinic Judaism study and practice. The key section for the issue at hand is the end. The phrase in the land makes it seem that all mitzvoth are obligatory only in the land. On the other hand, the phrase on the earth refers to those living anywhere. So which is it?
אחר שריבה הכתוב ומיעט צא ולמד ממה שאמור בענין (דברים יב, ב) אבד תאבדון את כל המקומות אשר עבדו שם וגו’ מה עבודת כוכבים מיוחדת שהיא חובת הגוף ונוהגת בין בארץ בין בחוץ לארץ אף כל שהיא חובת הגוף נוהגת בין בארץ בין בח"ל
Now, since the verse extends and limits, go out and learn from what is stated in that passage: You shall utterly destroy all the places, where the nations served their gods (Deuteronomy 12:2): just as [the destruction of] idolatry is singled out as being a personal duty, and is obligatory both in and outside the land, so everything which is a personal duty is obligatory both in and outside the land.
Now that we have the phrase in the land and on the earth we have to figure out which commandments are obligatory everywhere and which only in the Land. The baraita determines this from the first mitzvah mentioned immediately thereafter the mitzvah to uproot idolatry. This is considered a personal obligation a mitzvah that one does with one s body, not with the Land. Therefore it is a paradigm for all mitzvoth any mitzvah that is a personal duty is obligatory no matter where one lives.
I might add that this sugya prevents a limiting of Judaism to those living in the Land, a notion that might have been catastrophic for the history of Judaism. Had rabbis decided that mitzvoth need only be observed inside Israel, one might wonder if Judaism would still exist.