When is it time to move house?

When is it time to move house?

The Gemara advises someone who is contemplating a move: If life in your current town is not serving you well, and you have difficulties, you should move: meshaneh makom, meshaneh mazal (change your place, change your luck for the better). 

Follow-up guidance is recorded in Sefer Yosif Ometz over one thousand years later: Great people of the past thrived in their earliest homes despite increasingly cramped quarters, so if the place you live brings you success—stay put.

This is more than just advice. It is brought in sefarim (the holy books) that a person’s neshamah (soul) is inexorably tied to their location, and their current residence should not be changed except under extenuating circumstances. Small difficulties are not legitimate cause for moving if the family is doing well. Traditionally, people contemplating a move would visit a tzaddik (a supremely righteous individual) or a Rebbe (a spiritual leader) to seek advice, so that a decision with potential spiritual ramifications is not made lightly.

The Gemara also describes a buyer’s first property as a siman tov (sign of good fortune) and it should therefore not be readily sold. This refers to a person’s residence; if real estate was purchased as an investment property, it may be put on the market even without serious need.

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Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.