Question
I own an apartment in an irreligious neighborhood in Haifa where a lot of gentiles reside. Most of the people who are interested in renting my apartment are not Jewish. Am I allowed to rent to a non-Jew since no one in the neighborhood will object? Or is it forbidden because one is not allowed to give a place to goyim in Eretz Yisroel as it says lo sechoneim which Rashi in Chumash explains as meaning one must not give them a place to live in Eretz Yisroel?
Answer
You are correct that there is a prohibition to give a place in Eretz Yisroel to non-Jews based on the pasuk, in Devorim 7, 2. However, the Mishna (Avodo Zoro 20B) records that the issue of whether one may rent to gentiles was disputed by R. Meir who forbids it and R. Yosi who permits it. Even R. Meir who forbids it, agrees that the pasuk of the Torah only forbids selling to a gentile and does not forbid renting. The dispute is only whether the Rabbonon prohibited renting to a gentile because people who rent may come to sell to gentiles. The Gemara (21A) states that the opinion of Rav Yosi is authoritative. Consequently all the poskim and the SA (YD 151) rule that one is permitted to rent his property to a gentile in Eretz Yisroel.
Even though one is permitted to rent to gentiles, there is second very relevant issue in your case based on the same Mishna. The Mishna states that even where it is permitted to rent to gentiles, one may not rent to a gentile to live, but only for some other use, for example for storage. This is because the pasuk (Devorim 7, 26) says that it is forbidden to bring an idol into one's house. When one rents his house to a gentile he retains ownership of the house. Therefore, if a gentile tenant brings an idol into the house he rented from a Jewish owner, the Jew is violating the pasuk.
The Rishonim note that in their time it was common practice to rent houses to gentiles. They sought justification for this practice since religious Jews would not ignore a Mishna. Tosafos first suggests that the prohibition is only to rent to a gentile if he will keep an idol in the Jew's house on a permanent basis. Since in his time Christians only brought an idol into their house on special occasions, like when someone in the house was about to pass away, one was allowed to rent to Christians. However, Tosafos contends that the suggestion is not impeccable and therefore, not sufficient to serve as the basis for a leniency.
Tosafos then cites Rabbeinu Chaim who says that since the pasuk states that the prohibition is to bring the idol into one's house, houses in Chutz Lo'oretz are not included since they are not really called the house of the Jewish owner. Tosafos rejects this because if houses in Chutz Lo'oretz are not called the houses of their Jewish owners one should not be required to attach a mezuzo to a house in Chutz Lo'oretz because the Torah uses the same word "your house" when it records the commandment to affix a mezuzo. Some Rishonim answer that the mezuzo is different is because the pasuk teaches that the commandment to affix a mezuzo obligates the occupant of the house regardless if he is the owner or not, as the Gemara says there: a mezuo is the obligation of the one who lives in the place. Therefore, even if one only resides in an apartment but does not own it he must affix a mezuzo.
However, Tosafos concludes that Rabbeinu Chaim was correct in differentiating between Eretz Yisroel and Chutz Lo'oretz, but for a different reason. The reason is that the Torah's original prohibition only applies to a house in which the Jewish owner is residing. If the Jewish owner does not reside in a house, the Torah does not object to renting to a gentile who might bring in an idol, just like one is not required to affix a mezuzo if he does not reside in a house. In Eretz Yisroel the Rabbonon added a prohibition to rent to gentiles even if the owner does not live in the house. But in Chutz Lo'oretz the Rabbonon did not enact a prohibition if the owner does not live there. Thus, the ruling of the Mishna was intended only for houses in Eretz Yisroeil where the Tanaim lived.
The Ramban, Rashbo and Ritvo justify the custom in Chutz Lo'oretz for a different reason. They say that the reason the Torah's prohibition does not apply when a gentile renter brings his idol into an apartment that he rented from a Jew is because the Torah only forbade a Jew from bringing in an idol in order to benefit from the idol. However, in Eretz Yisroel where the Torah commands us to totally eradicate idols from the entire land, the Rabbonon extended the Torah's prohibition to include even where a gentile renter brings his idol into a property that he rents from a Jewish owner.
Obviously, these approaches only justify renting to idol worshipers in Chutz Lo'oretz but in Eretz Yisroel, where your apartment is located, these justifications do not apply.
The Rosh (Avodo Zoro 1, 22) gives still another reason to permit renting to an idol worshiper. According to Torah law, if the house of the owner of a house that is rented out collapses, the owner may evict his tenant even before the end of the lease. The Rosh maintains that it is because of this right that the house is considered as belonging to its owner even while it is rented to a tenant. Therefore, since the gentile law which was the governing law in the Middle Ages did not allow the owner to evict his tenant under these circumstances, it is as if the owner of the apartment sells the house to his tenant for the duration of the rental period.
It is questionable whether this reason applies in Israel today. Even though under secular Israeli law the owner may not evict his tenant even if his own house collapses, one is not required to conduct himself according to secular law. It is perfectly legal to sign an arbitration agreement that stipulates that the arbitrators should rule according to Torah law.
Still another reason is given by the Ra'avan. His reason is that since the Jewish owner was required to pay real estate tax to the gentile government, his ownership was not complete since the gentile government had a type of lien on the house. Again, this reason does not apply in Israel since the government that charges real estate tax is Jewish.
Thus, we have seen that according to very many Rishonim there is no permission to rent an apartment in Eretz Yisroel to a gentile who worships idols. We should mention further that the Ramo rules (YD 141, 1: 150, 3) that a cross that is worshiped is an idol but one that is just an ornament is not.
Several poskim discuss whether one may rent an apartment in Eretz Yisroeil to an idol worshiper. The Pe'as Hashulchan (1, Beis Yisroeil 19), the leader of the Talmedei Hagro who settled in Eretz Yisroel, writes that one may only rent to Moslems since they are not idol worshipers. The late Klausenberger Rebbe, the Divrei Yatziv (res. 42) as well rules that one may not rent to gentiles who are idol worshipers. There is a responsum of the Tzitz Eliezer (22, 74) in which he permits renting to idol worshipers but there are difficulties with his reasons and, as we have seen, most Rishonim do not permit this.
In conclusion: You may rent a home in Eretz Yisroel to a gentile who does not worship idols. However, you may not rent to a gentile who worships idols.
