Commentary for Yoma 22:15

Is that not self-evident? You might have said: Then shall come he who has the house to him;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XIV, 35. So lit., E.V. 'he that owneth the house shall come',');">¹⁹</span> to him' [implies] but not 'to her' [woman], 'to him' but not 'to them' [partners], therefore we are told [that this is not so]. Perhaps it is really so? - Scripture says, In house of the land of your possession,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 34.');">²⁰</span> [which includes both] - Why then 'to him'? [That means to say that] if one devotes his house to himself exclusively, refusing to lend his belongings by pretending he did not own them, the Holy One, blessed be He, exposes him as he removes his belongings.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In accord with the priest's command, as prescribed: And the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest go in to see the plague. Lev. XIV, 36.');">²¹</span> Thus 'to him' excludes [from the infliction of the house plague] him who lends his belongings to others.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The plague is thus seen as a punishment for niggardliness.');">²²</span> But is a synagogue subject to uncleanness from house plagues? Has it not been taught: One might assume that synagogues and houses of learning are subject to uncleanness from house plagues, therefore Scripture says: 'He who has the house to him', i.e., he to whom alone the house belongs, that excludes those [houses] which do not belong to him alone? - This is no difficulty: The first teaching is in accord with R'Meir, the second with Rabba, for it has been taught: A synagogue which contains a dwelling for the synagogue attendant<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra p. 47 n. 8.');">²³</span> is liable to a mezuzah, but one which has no dwelling apartment, R'Meir declares it liable but the Sages exempt it. Or, if you wish, you might say: Both teachings are in accord with the Rabbis. In the one case the synagogue referred to has a dwelling [apartment], in the other it has no dwelling apartment. Or, if you wish, you might say [in accounting for the discrepancy] that in both cases the synagogue has no dwelling apartment

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