Talmud - Arachin 32b ערכין ל״ב ב׳

Abaye said: This is what the baraita is saying: Until Gamla in the Galilee, i.e., all towns in the Galilee from Gamla southward were surrounded by a wall from the era of Joshua, son of Nun; and likewise, all towns until Gedod in Transjordan, which is the easternmost city, were surrounded by a wall; and Ḥadid and Ono and Jerusalem in Judea were surrounded by a wall from the era of Joshua, son of Nun.

Rava said a different explanation: The baraita is elucidating the mishna, which mentions these cities. The baraita is teaching that the Gamla referred to in the mishna is the one in the Galilee, to the exclusion of any Gamla found in other lands, i.e., Judea and Transjordan. Likewise, Gedod is the one in Transjordan, to the exclusion of Gedod in other lands, Judea and the Galilee. In the same vein, Ḥadid, Ono, and Jerusalem are specifically the cities in Judea known by those names. With regard to those other cities mentioned in the mishna, e.g., Yodfat, since there are no cities in other lands with similar names, it was not necessary for the tanna of the baraita to state them.

The Gemara asks: And is ownership of a house in Jerusalem transferred in perpetuity to the buyer after one year, in the manner of houses of walled cities? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: Ten matters were stated with regard to Jerusalem, one of which is that ownership of a house situated in Jerusalem is not transferred in perpetuity one year after its sale?

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The tanna means that ownership of a house may be transferred in perpetuity in any city that is like Jerusalem, i.e., which is surrounded by a wall from the era of Joshua, son of Nun, but the halakha with regard to such a city is not like Jerusalem itself, since while with regard to Jerusalem, ownership of a house inside it is not transferred in perpetuity, here, with regard to cities similar to Jerusalem, a house in them may be transferred in perpetuity to the buyer. Rav Ashi said a different answer: Didn’t Rav Yosef say in resolution of another difficulty: There were two places called Kadesh? Here, too, one can say that there were two places called Jerusalem in Judea, and the mishna is referring to the one where ownership of houses transfers in perpetuity.

§ With regard to the cities listed in the mishna, it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, says: Why did the Sages count specifically these cities as those walled since the days of Joshua, son of Nun? They counted them because when the exiles ascended to Eretz Yisrael from Babylonia, they discovered these cities and sanctified them; but the sanctity of the first walled cities was nullified when the sanctity of the land was nullified and the Jewish people were exiled. The Gemara notes: Apparently, Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, holds that the initial consecration of Eretz Yisrael in the days of Joshua consecrated it for its time, until the exile, but did not consecrate Eretz Yisrael forever.

The Gemara asks: But raise a contradiction from another baraita: Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, said: And were these cities enumerated in the mishna the only walled cities from the days of Joshua? But isn’t it already stated: “There was not a city that we took not from them; sixty cities, all the region of Argob…all these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars” (Deuteronomy 3:4–5)? Rather, why did the Sages specifically count these cities? They counted them because when the exiles ascended from Babylonia they discovered these and sanctified them. The Gemara interjects: Can the baraita really mean that they sanctified them? But we say later in the same baraita that it is not necessary to sanctify them. Rather, the baraita means that they found these cities and counted them in the mishna.

The baraita continues: And not only these; rather, with regard to any city for which you receive a tradition from your ancestors that it is surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua, son of Nun, all these mitzvot of walled cities are observed in it, due to the fact that the initial consecration of Eretz Yisrael consecrated it for its time and consecrated it forever. Evidently, Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, holds that the initial consecration of Eretz Yisrael is eternal.

The Gemara responds: If you wish, say that this is a dispute between two tanna’im, and they disagree with regard to the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei. And if you wish, say instead that one of the baraitot, specifically the second one, was actually said by Rabbi Elazar bar Yosei. As it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Elazar bar Yosei says: Since the verse states: “Which has [lo] a wall,” with lo written with an alef, according to which the verse may also be taken to mean: Which does not have a wall, this indicates that even if a city does not have a wall now, but it had a wall before, in the era of Joshua, son of Nun, it retains its status as a walled city.

§ The Gemara asks: What is the reasoning of the one who says that the initial consecration of Eretz Yisrael consecrated it for its time, but did not consecrate it forever? As it is taught in a baraita: It is written with regard to the return from Babylonia: “And all the congregation of those that were coming back out of the captivity made sukkot, and dwelt in sukkot, for since the days of Joshua, son of Nun, unto that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy” (Nehemiah 8:17). Now, is it possible that King David came and the Jews in his time and all subsequent generations did not make sukkot, until Ezra came?

Rather, when the verse states: “For since the days of Joshua,” it means to compare their arrival in Eretz Yisrael in the days of Ezra to their arrival in the days of Joshua: Just as with regard to their arrival in the days of Joshua, they counted Sabbatical Years and Jubilee Years and they sanctified walled cities, so too, with regard to their arrival in the days of Ezra, they counted Sabbatical Years and Jubilee Years and they sanctified walled cities.

And so it says with regard to the return of the Jews from exile: “And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it” (Deuteronomy 30:5). The verse compares your possession to the possession of your fathers: Just as the possession of your fathers came with the renewal of all these matters, i.e., the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee Year, and terumot and tithes, so too your possession comes with the renewal of all these matters, as the initial consecration was nullified.

The Gemara asks: And the tanna who maintains the other opinion, that the initial consecration of Eretz Yisrael is eternal, how does he interpret the verse in Nehemiah? The Gemara answers that when the verse states: “For since the days of Joshua,” this is not referring to actual sukkot; rather, the verse means that Ezra prayed for mercy with regard to the evil inclination of idol worship and nullified it, and the merit of his prayer protected them like a sukka.

The Gemara adds: And this is the reason that the verse criticizes Joshua for not praying for the removal of this inclination himself. How is this criticism indicated in the verse? As in every other place in the Bible, his name is written as: Yehoshua, and here it is written: Yeshua. The Gemara explains why the verse singles out Joshua for criticism: Granted, Moses, the first leader of the Jewish people, did not pray for mercy that this inclination should be removed, as at the time there was no merit of Eretz Yisrael; but Joshua, who had the merit of Eretz Yisrael, why didn’t he pray for mercy that this inclination should be nullified?

The Gemara asks: But according to the opinion that the initial consecration was not nullified, isn’t it written: “Which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it”? This verse apparently indicates that it was necessary to sanctify Eretz Yisrael a second time. The Gemara answers: According to this opinion, this is what the verse is saying: Since your fathers possessed the land, you too possess it, and there is no need to sanctify it again.

The baraita cited earlier teaches that the Jews began counting the Jubilee Year upon their return from exile. The Gemara asks: But did they count Sabbatical Years and Jubilee Years in the days of Ezra? Now, if from the time that the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh were exiled (see I Chronicles 5:26) the counting of Jubilee Years was nullified, despite the fact that a majority of Jews lived in Eretz Yisrael, then in the time of Ezra, about which it is written: “The whole congregation together was 42,360” (Ezra 2:64), would they have counted Jubilee Years?

As it is taught in a baraita: From the time that the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh were exiled, the counting of Jubilee Years was nullified, as it is stated: “And you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a Jubilee for you” (Leviticus 25:10), indicating that the halakhot of the Jubilee Year apply only when all its inhabitants are in Eretz Yisrael, and not when some of them have been exiled.

The baraita continues: One might have thought that if all the Jews were living in Eretz Yisrael, but they are intermingled, e.g., the tribe of Benjamin is living in the portion of the tribe of Judah, and the tribe of Judah in the portion of the tribe of Benjamin, that the Jubilee Year should be in effect. Therefore, the verse states: “To all its inhabitants,” which teaches that the Jubilee Year applies only when its inhabitants are living according to their proper arrangment, and not when they are intermingled. How, then, could those who returned from exile have counted the Jubilee Years?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: They counted Jubilee Years in order to sanctify Sabbatical Years. That is, at the end of every seven cycles of the Sabbatical Year they would count the fiftieth year as a Jubilee Year, so that the next Sabbatical cycle would begin in its proper time, in the fifty-first year. Nevertheless, the halakhot of the Jubilee Year were not in effect.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Arachin 32b examines which ancient walled cities from Joshua's time are named in the mishnah, and debates whether Jerusalem houses follow the same permanent-sale rule.