Questions tagged [cities]
The cities tag has no usage guidance.
41 questions
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Names of cities given by Onkelos east of Jordan
There seem to be several changes that Targum Onkelos makes when giving names of the 9 cities east of Jordan.
The city Atarot. Bamidbar 32:3: מכללתא; Bamidbar 32:35: עטרות
The city Dibon. Bamidbar 32:...
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What is the definition of a city עיר regarding sieges?
Sifrei Devarim 203.
כי תצור אל עיר. במלחמת הרשות הכתוב מדבר.
(Devarim 20:19) "If you besiege a city many days": Scripture here speaks of an optional war.
I אל עיר. ולא לכרך.
"a city&...
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Houseless city?
Meseches Arachin (33b):
ואימא בית וחצר אם כן ליכתוב רחמנא חצרים וכי תימא אי כתב רחמנא חצרים חצר בלא בית משמע ההוא קרפף איקרי:
The Gemara objects: But you can say that the phrase: Houses of the ...
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Why did God send Dovid to Hebron specifically?
In Shmuel Bet 2:1, Dovid asks God which city he should go to and God tells him to go to Hebron. What is the reason he is told to go to that city specifically? I have seen commentaries explain that it ...
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Why did Yaakov give the city of Shechem to Yosef?
Yaakov gives Yosef what many commentators assume is the actual city of Shechem as an additional inheritance (see Genesis 48:22, especially according to Rashi's interpretation). Why did Yaakov choose ...
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Why are the cities Reuven gave to the Leviyim not listed in Yehoshua?
In most versions of Yehoshua, when detailing the cities each Shevet gave to the Leviyim, Reuven's cities are missing. (Some versions add them after 21:35, but the conclusion of the Radak followed by ...
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Why was Cheshbon given by the Gadites?
In Bamidbar 32:37 it says that Cheshbon was rebuilt by Reuven - seemingly, it was given to them after they reached the agreement with Moshe on the settlement of the land. In Yehoshua 13:17 it says ...
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Was Lot, himself, sodomized when he first moved into Sodom?
In Genesis 19, Lot defends the angels who came under his roof against the demands of the local men who want a chance to sodomize the three visitors. From the Torah's description, and Rashi's take on ...
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What exactly are the forbidden statues according to Yerushalmi- Avodah Zarah 3:1 18a?
We read in Yerushalmi- Avodah Zarah 3:1 18a (English translation by Rabbi Jacob Neusner):
[A] All images are prohibited.
[B] "Because they are worshipped once a year", the words of R. Meir
[...
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Midrash on Novach
In Ruth Rabbah 5:5 it says:
"...And similarly "And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name (Numbers 32:42) this teaches that her own ...
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Why does Shushan Purim exist? Why don't we follow the principle of "rov"?
(follow up question to scimonster's question)
Shushan Purim was enacted because Jews in walled cities stopped fighting on the 15th and thus that's when they celebrated, opposed to the rest of Klal ...
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Why do we need a separate celebration for Shushan Purim in walled cities?
Purim is celebrated on Adar 14 because that was the day the Jews rested after prevailing against their enemies. In walled cities, Shushan Purim is celebrated on the 15th because that was when the ...
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Must you celebrate Shushan Purim if you've already celebrated normal Purim? [duplicate]
If you are in one part of Israel, and celebrate Purim on the normal 14th of Adar, but then end up being in Jerusalem in time to celebrate Shushan Purim, are you obligated to celebrate Shushan Purim ...
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Why does the Torah tell us the previous name of Bethel?
Beraishis 28 (19)
He named that site Bethel; but previously the name of the city had
been Luz.
Why does the Torah tell us the previous name of Bethel? There must be something the Torah wants us ...
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Maps that can aid the locations of the cities referenced in Masechet Gittin?
I’m currently learning Masechet Gittin and would like to know where I can find maps of the cities referenced in the first daf or so that can assist me. Cities like heger, rekem, kfar lud, etc is what ...
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What is the purpose of the mezuzah on the entrance to Sha'ar Tziyon?
It's been a while since I visited the Old City in Jerusalem. I recall that there is a giant mezuzah on the sidewall of the Zion Gate. I don't recall if all the Jerusalem gates have a mezuzah.
I'm ...
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In the time of the mishna, were there Jewish cities without courts?
In a discussion of the heifer ritual when a murder victim is found between two cities, Sotah 9:2 lists some cases when a city does not bring a heifer, including a city where a majority of the ...
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Would a neighborhood of a city be identified in a Get?
A Get needs to contain the name of the city in which it was signed by its witnesses.
What is the Halacha where there are neighborhoods? For example, does one write "London" or "Stamford Hill"? "...
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Does anyone say the "extra" pesukim in Yehoshua about the cities from Reuven belong there?
Some versions of Yehoshua, including Sefaria, print two extra pesukim (identical to the ones in Divrei Hayamim) about the cities that Shevet Reuven gave to the Leviyim. The Radak, quoted by the ...
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Is Shushan Purim observed (in theory) in Shush, Iran?
Shushan, Achashveirosh's capital, is identified with the modern Iranian archaeological site of Susa. A city, Shush, has been established nearby.
In modern-day Shush, (if any Jews lived there), what ...
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Setting up municipalities run by Jews in Eretz Yisrael
Even those who are against the State of Israel have no problem with living in the Land of Israel. Is there anything (in Torah, Halacha) that would prevent a group of Jews from coming to Eretz Yisrael ...
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Which groups hold by the eiruv in Crown Heights?
Crown Heights, Brooklyn is now home to a controversial new eiruv.* I am aware that the majority of Lubavitchers do not accept it for both Chasidic and Halachic reasons. I am also under the impression ...
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Cities' רבנויות's accepting others' food
Years ago, IIRC, I heard the following from a respectable source:
By Israeli law, if the רבנות of one city certifies a food as kosher, then the רבנות of any other city must allow that food as an ...
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A practical guide to Jewish neighborhoods and communities in Israel
In the interest of fulfilling the Torah imperative to live in the Lnd of Israel, can anyone recommend a guide to Jewish neighborhoods and communities in Israel that includes information on as many as ...
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What is מדין שני בתי דינים בעיר אחת? Regarding different minhagim in New york
What did Igros Moshe 1.158 mean by the words "מדין שני בתי דינים בעיר אחת" ("from the law of two courts in one city")?
What is דין שני בתי דינים בעיר אחת?
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Donating to the poor ON Purim
In minyan this morning, the gabbai said that money given to the shul as matanot l'evyonim would be donated to a charity which will "distribute it to evyonim in Yerushalayim, on Purim."
I live in the ...
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Why did Yaakov give Yosef Shechem 'one more than his brothers' specifically?
וַאֲנִי נָתַתִּי לְךָ שְׁכֶם אַחַד עַל אַחֶיךָ - bereshis 48:22. Yaakov previously gave Yosef an additional article of clothing, which spurred the brother's hatred of him (Yosef). Why would Yaakov go ...
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Bes El or Bes Kel?
There is at least one city mentioned in Tanach named Bes El, written as two words; that name currently belongs to a city in Israel and a number of synagogues and Reform temples. Does that "El" have ...
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Why did it take 2 days in the city of Shushan?
The reason Purim is celebrated for two days in a "walled city" is that the Megilat Esther says the Jews of the city of Shushan (the capital) needed/took an extra day to fight for their survival. My ...
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Why doesn't the king of Belah get a name?
Bereishis 14:2 names the 5 kings who were on Team B in the war between the 4 kings and the 5 kings. Regarding 4 of the 5 kings on Team B, we are told their name and their domain. But by the king of ...
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Confused on Nahor and Haran
In Genesis 11, we are shown that Abram, Nahor, and Haran are brothers. Haran dies in Ur.
Then, Abram and other family members travel now to a city called Haran (a bit confusing, but okay. Did they ...
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Questions about the destruction of Sodom and the vicinity
I am having a hard time making heads or tails of the story of the destruction of Sodom and the vicinity. All questions below are questions about the narrative of the story based on the interpretation ...
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לָשַׁע the place
The lands of the Cannanites are described in parashat Noach 10:19:
And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you come to Gerar, until Gaza, as you come to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and ...
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What is the status of a modern-day city with regards to techum?
The halacha of techum states that one cannot go more than 2000 amot outside of his place of rest. The place of rest can be the city in which he's spending Shabbat.
With regards to t'chum, what ...
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Giving to the poor of your city first - home or workplace?
The poor of one's household take precedence over the poor of one's city, and the poor of one's city take precedence over the poor of another city, as implied by [Deuteronomy 15:11]: "[Open your hand ...
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Making shechayenu twice on megillah
If someone was able to put themselves into a situation that they would be required to read the megillah twice (for example they went to Bnei Brak on the 14th of Adar then came to Jerusalem for the ...
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יוֹשְׁבֵי דְּבִיר
In Y'hoshua 15:15, and again in Shof'tim 1:11, going to the city of דְּבִיר is referred to as "going to יוֹשְׁבֵי דְּבִיר" (something if not unique then nearly so (in Y'hoshua, anyway; I haven't ...
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Why did Eliyahu go to the outskirts of Bes El but right into Y'richo?
In Ⅱ M'lachim, chapter 2, Eliyahu is about to be carried off to heaven, and his student, Elisha, knows it. Verses 2–5, with emphasis supplied:
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלִיָּהוּ אֶל אֱלִישָׁע שֵׁב נָא פֹה כִּי ה׳ ...
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Difference between the spoils in Yericho and Ai
Why by the plunder of Yericho (Yehoshua chapter 6) the Jews were forbidden to take anything, but by Ai they were commanded to take the spoils (Yehoshua 8:6)?
Any insight would be appreciated.
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Holy Cities in Israel
It's almost a colloquialism that there are four holy cities in Israel.
If, indeed, there is some significant message derived from the historical importance of these cities that imparts in them some ...
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What is special about Tzfat?
The city of Tzefat seems to be a magnet for torah scholars and kabbalists for many hundreds of years. Why is that?
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