In Remembrance of the Temple's Destruction
In the wake of the destruction of the Holy Temple a great change took place. It seemed as if after the destruction, and all that came in its wake, it would no longer be possible to continue living in a normal manner. The Talmud relates (Tractate Baba Batra 60b):

Our rabbis taught: When the second Temple was destroyed, many of Israel separated themselves from eating meat or drinking wine. Rabbi Yehoshua approached them, saying: 'My children, why do you not eat meat nor drink wine?' They replied: 'Should we eat meat of which sacrifices were brought, or drink wine which used to be poured as a libation on the altar, but now no longer?' He said to them: 'If so, we should not eat bread either, because the meal offerings have ceased.’ They replied: 'We can live on fruit.'

'We should not eat fruit either, because there is no longer an offering of first fruits.'

'Then we can manage with other fruits.'

'But we should not drink water, because there is no longer any ceremony of the pouring of water.'

To this they could find no answer, so he said to them: 'My children, come and listen to me. It would be wrong not to mourn at all, because the evil decree is executed. To mourn too much is also impossible, because we do not impose on the community a hardship which the majority cannot endure.'

Rabbi Yehoshua continued and explained to them that the principle is that life must go on. We cannot allow our great mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temple to cause a state of depression that the nation cannot
So long as the Holy Temple is not built, the private home of an individual also cannot be complete.
endure. It is therefore impossible to institute that so long as the Temple sits in ruin it is forbidden to consume meat or drink wine. However, any time a person participates in a celebration, he must recall the destruction of the Holy Temple, for as long as the Temple is in ruins, the joy is still not complete.

Therefore, the sages teach that a groom on his wedding day must place Jerusalem above his highest joy and put ash on his head as a sign of mourning. Likewise, when a person builds a house he must leave a square cubit of wall without whitewash in remembrance of the Temple's destruction. And when preparing a celebrative meal, one must exclude one cooked food in remembrance of the Temple's destruction. And the same is true of women's jewelry.

A Square Cubit - Remembrance of the Temple's Destruction
The sages enacted a number of ordinances in order to remind us of the destruction of the Holy Temple. The underlying principle is that when a person has the good fortune of arriving at an occasion that gives him a sense of gratification, he must remember that his joy is still incomplete, for the Temple lies in ruins.

Therefore, the sages instituted that when a person builds a house for himself and reaches its final stage, the whitewashing of the walls, he must remember that the house of the nation, the Holy Temple, still lies in ruins. And in remembrance of the destruction of the Holy Temple he must leave a square cubit of wall without whitewash.

In this ordinance, the sages teach us that so long as the Holy Temple is not built, the private home of an individual also cannot be complete. Therefore, a square cubit of wall must be left without whitewash. A cubit is approximately half a meter, and therefore, in practice, a square half meter of wall must be left without whitewash. In the same respect, if a person covers his walls with wallpaper, he must leave a square half meter of wall without whitewash and without wallpaper.

The bare square cubit must be in a place that catches the eye. The sages therefore instituted that this square cubit be situated opposite the entrance of the house. Some have understood this to mean that the square cubit should be situated above the entrance inside, in order that the people in the house always see the area without whitewash. However, according to most authorities, the non-whitewashed space should be situated on the wall opposite the entrance, so that whoever enters the house can see it. Only in a case where it is impossible to leave a space opposite the entrance - for example, in a house that has no wall opposite the entrance - is it permitted to situate the non-whitewashed space above the entrance (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 560:1; Mishnah Berurah 3; Aruch HaShulchan 5).

The Law Concerning One Who Buys a House
It often happens that a person buys a house from somebody else and discovers that no square cubit of wall has been left without whitewash. In such a case, does the buyer have to scrape off some of the wall opposite the entrance in order to uncover a square cubit in remembrance of the Temple's destruction? Or do we say that because he was not the one who whitewashed the house to begin with, he is not obligated to leave an area without whitewash in remembrance of the Temple's destruction?

It all depends on who built the house; i.e., who the original owner was. If the person who built the house was a Jew, he was obligated to leave a square cubit of wall without whitewash. If he did not do so, then the square cubit of wall was whitewashed counter to Jewish law. Therefore, the buyer must scrape off the whitewash. However, if the original owner was a non-Jew, he was not obligated to leave a non-whitewashed area, and it follows that the buyer is exempt from scraping off a square cubit of whitewash (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 560:1; Mishnah Berurah 4).

It does not matter who the builders are. What matters is who the owner of the house is. If the owner of the house is a Jew, he must leave a square cubit of wall without whitewash even if non-Jews build his house, for they are building the house for him. And if the workers mistakenly whitewashed the entire house, then the owner of the house must himself scrape off a square cubit of wall opposite the entrance.

Ceramics, Wallpaper and Decorative Paint
There is a debate in Jewish law between Rambam and Tur over the question of whether or not it is permissible, while the Temple sits in ruins, for a person to decorate the walls of his own house with decorative ceramic tiles or patterned wallpaper, or even a patterned two-color paint job. While it is clearly permissible to hang pictures on the walls, there is disagreement about painting the walls with decorations or patterns.

According to Tur, it is permissible for a person to beautify the walls of his house with all sorts of decorations, on the condition that he leave a square cubit of wall without any decoration or whitewash in remembrance of the destruction of the Holy Temple (Tur, Orach Chaim 560, based upon the third Baraitha in Baba Batra 60b). However, according to Rambam, with the destruction of the Holy Temple the sages instituted a prohibition against overly decorating one's home. Therefore, it is forbidden to cover the walls with ceramic tiles, wallpaper or decorative paint. When the rabbis instituted leaving a square cubit of wall un-whitewashed they were referring to whitewash or paint, but decorating the walls with ceramic tiles, etc. is completely forbidden (Laws of Ta’aniot 5:12, based upon the third Baraitha in Baba Batra 60b, and this is how Shulchan Aruch rules, 560:1).

As far as a final ruling is concerned, many authorities follow the lenient opinions, and the accepted practice in many households is to decorate the walls with wallpaper or decorated ceramic tiles. And in remembrance of the Temple's destruction they leave a square cubit of wall un-whitewashed (Rif and Rosh also imply that it is permissible, and the Mishnah Berurah writes that this is the custom). The pious, however, act stringently, in keeping with the opinion of Rambam. They refrain from decorating the house with ceramic tiles and the like, and make due with whitewash or a simple paint job. And, of course, they leave a square cubit of wall un-whitewashed and unpainted.

All authorities are in agreement that in synagogues and study halls, there is no need to leave a square cubit of wall unpainted. It is likewise permissible to cover the walls of these places with wallpaper or decorative ceramics. This is because the rabbinic ordinance applies specifically to private homes, not public places (Magen Avraham and Pri Megadim 560:4 ).

A Depiction of Jerusalem
Some people practice the erroneous custom of hanging a picture of the Temple Mount opposite the entrance of the house. This is not in keeping with Jewish law, for the picture cannot replace the rabbinic ordinance. Rather,
Leave a square cubit of wall without any decoration or whitewash in remembrance of the destruction of the Holy Temple.
one must leave a square cubit of wall un-whitewashed opposite the entrance of the house. And if a person seeks to go beyond the letter of the law by making some kind of sign that will cause whoever enters the house to understand the significance of this bare square cubit, he can hang a picture of the Temple Mount above or next to the bare space. It is also possible to write the verse "If I should forget thee Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning." (Psalms 137:5)

Others leave the plaster exposed, but etch a picture of walls into it; and since there is no whitewash, they fulfill their obligation.

Though, as we learned in the previous section, it may well be that those who follow the lenient path have authorities to rely upon, for perhaps the underlying principle of the rabbinic ordinance is that there be something that recalls the destruction of the Holy Temple - and a picture of the Temple Mount certainly recalls the destruction of the Holy Temple - according to the overwhelming majority of authorities the main idea of the ordinance is that the square cubit be left with neither paint nor whitewash. This shows that the house's construction is not complete, and it gives expression to the idea that so long as the Holy Temple is not built, our own private house also cannot reach completion.

Send comments or questions for Rabbi Melamed to Yonaton Behar at yonatonb@yahoo.com.