The laws of a house afflicted with plague in provide an application of the twelfth of the Thirteen Rules for interpreting the Torah in the Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael that many Jews read as part of the readings before the "Pesukei d'Zimrah" prayer service. The twelfth rule provides that one may elucidate a matter from its context or from a passage following it. describes the laws of the house afflicted with plague generally. But because instructs what to do with the "stones ... timber ... and all the mortar of the house," the Rabbis interpret the laws of the house afflicted with plague to apply only to houses made of stones, timber, and mortar.