Numbers 35

This week’s double portion concludes the book of Numbers. In it contains a bit of confusing information regarding the dwellings of the Levites. The Talmud explains it further in Sotah 27b.

The cities in which the children of Israel would live in each of their tribal areas were to have a band of land around them, that could not be developed. From the wall of each city. There must be an undeveloped area stretching out 1000 cubits, or roughly 2 miles in every direction. These are designated “open spaces” and could not be used for building or for farming.

The Torah, then talks about a band stretching out 2000 cubits, or 4 miles, from the city walls. The Levites should live, farm, and pasture in these areas. 1000? 2000? What is going on?

Talmud teaches that the first 2 miles from the city walls is to be unformed and undeveloped. The second 2 miles is the area in which the Levites are to live far and pasture their flocks. So, the idea of a “green space” is not a development of modern urban planning at all. It is in Torah. So from the walls of the city for 2 miles in circumference around the city is an urban green space. Then, outside of the green space is where the Levites lived. Behold, suburbia is in Torah. In essence, Hashem instructed us in modern urban planning. We are to have a downtown district in our cities, we are to have undeveloped parks and open areas, followed by suburban dwelling. In this way, the Levites who had no inherited land of their own, we have places to live, farm, and pasture their flocks. Shabbat shalom.