In the Torah portion of Vayishlach, we read how Yaakov bought a parcel of land outside of the city of Shechem and camped there with his family. Unfortunately, his daughter Dinah was abducted and violated by Shechem, the son of the ruler of the city. In revenge, her brothers killed all the males in the city after tricking them into having a Brit Milah.
Many significant events took place in the city of Shechem. While some of them were positive, many of them were negative and even tragic. This article will examine the history of this city as it relates to the Jewish people.
Three Places the Gentiles Cannot Claim
The Midrash says that there are three places in Israel that the gentile nations cannot claim that the Jewish people stole because they were purchased lawfully. They are the cave of Machpela – purchased by Avraham, the (area of the) Beit HaMikdash – purchased by King David and the burial spot of Josef (in Shechem) – purchased by Yaakov. According to the Yefeh To’ar these places are so holy that it’s proper for there to not be any claims against their Jewish ownership.
In Tanach
The city of Shechem is mentioned numerous times in the Tanach. Here is a list of where they are mentioned and a brief explanation of what occurred at that time.
1) Abraham Built an Altar There.
The very first place that Avraham stopped upon arriving in the land of Canaan was Shechem. He built an altar (mizbe’ach) there and G-d promised that his descendants would inherit the land.
Why There First?
The commentaries give different explanations as to why Avraham chose to camp there (first):
- According to Rashi he went there to pray for the sons of Yaakov who would, in the future, wage battle against the inhabitants.
- The Bechor Shor says that the city didn’t exist at that time, but it was the first place Avraham encountered that was fit for him to dwell.
- According to the Kli Yakar, since Shechem was the place where the Jewish people would reaccept the Torah (near Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival (see below), G-d was alluding to Avraham that his descendants would inherit the land only in the merit of the Torah.
- The Ramban says that Avraham camped there first to symbolize that the Jewish people would acquire that site (through Ya’akov and his sons) before the rest of the land of Israel.
2) Yaakov Buys a Parcel of Land Outside Shechem
As mentioned above, Yaakov bought a part of a field outside of Shechem for 100 kesitah (coins) and pitched his tent there. Some say that the name of the city where this occurred was “Shalem” and that it was in the province of Shechem. According to Bechor Shor, the name was changed from Shalem to Shechem after this incident. The reason Yaakov bought that area despite the fact that he wasn’t planning to stay there for long (he was on his way back to his father in Chevron) was to show his love for the Holy Land or to symbolize that this area would be conquered by the Jewish people (as happened soon afterwards).
3) Dinah Was Abducted and the Males of the City Were Annihilated (see above).
4) Idols Were Buried There.
Before traveling from there to Beit El, Yaakov instructed his family members to get rid of all of the idols they had in their possession. He buried these under a terebinth (type of tree) near Shechem. According to the Da’at Zekeinim, the idols buried there had the appearance of a dove. Many centuries later these were found by the Kutim (Samaritans) who proceeded to worship it.
5) Yosef Was Sold from that Area
Yaakov sent Yosef to check on his brothers who were pasturing their sheep near Shechem. There Yosef was sold into slavery. Rashi comments that Shechem was a place destined for punishment. That is where Dinah was abused, where Yosef was sold, and where the kingdom of the Jewish people was divided (see below).
Every action done in any place leaves an imprint on that place. The Mishnah says that if two people sit and don’t talk words of Torah, it’s a Moshav Leiztim – an area of scoffers. The commentaries explain this to mean that the reason that people don’t talk Torah in that place is because it was already a place of scoffing in the past. That past event affected the people in the future to be less prone to speak Torah in that place. Conversely, there are many places that are more prone towards holy activity like the cave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. This can also explain why Yosef was harmed in Shechem, despite the fact that he was doing the mitzvah of honoring his parent – because the very nature of the place was dangerous, and a mitzvah doesn’t (necessarily) protect in a place of (unusual) danger.
6) Yaakov Bequeathed It to Yosef
Before his passing, Yaakov told Yosef, “וַאֲנִי נָתַתִי לְךָ שְכֶם אַחַד עַל אַחֶיךָ.” Some understand this to mean that Yaakov bequeathed the city of Shechem to Yosef as a gift in return for Yosef’s having promised to bury Yaakov in the land of Canaan. Yaakov’s intention was for Yosef to be buried in that land, which is what happened when the Jewish people left Egypt and conquered Canaan (see below).
7) The Jewish People Reaccepted the Torah There
After crossing the Jordan river, the Jewish people, as instructed by Moshe and under the leadership of Yehoshua, made a ceremony in which they accepted the Torah with twelve 12 blessings and curses. This was done on the mountains of Gerizim and Eival which are in the area of Shechem.
8) In the Territory of Efrayim near the Area of Menashe
In Joshua (17:7) an area near Shechem is listed as being in the territory of Menashe while Shechem itself was in the territory of Efrayim.
9) Became a City of Refuge
Shechem (in Mount Efrayim) was designated as one of the main cities of refuge for the land of Israel.
10) Was Inhabited by Levites
Like the other cities of refuge, it was also designated as a city for the Levites.
11) A Gathering to Strengthen the Torah
In the last chapter of the book of Yehoshua, we read that Yehoshua gathered all of the people in Shechem and recounted to them the history of the Jewish people. (Part of this speech is incorporated into the Haggadah of Pesach.) He instructed the people to verbally accept to serve G-d and reject idolatry, as well as to make a covenant that they would observe the Torah. Yehoshua recorded this event on a scroll and placed the scroll in a stone under a tree near the Mishkan in Shilo.
Yehoshua chose Shechem for this gathering because one, it was the first place in Israel where Avraham camped, two, it was purchased by Yaakov, three, miracles happened there when Shimon and Levi wiped out the city without being harmed, and four, it’s where Yaakov purged idols from his family (see above).
12) Yosef Is Buried There
The verse at the end of the Book of Yehoshua states, “The bones of Yosef, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the piece of ground that Jacob had bought for a hundred kesitahs from the children of Chamor, Shechem’s father, and which had become a heritage of the tribe of Josef.” As explained above, this portion had been bequeathed to Yosef by Yaakov for this very purpose.
The Talmud explains that since Yosef was abducted from Shechem, it was appropriate that he be returned there (for burial). Rabbi Eliyahu Shik explains that being buried in Shechem evoked merit for Yosef as he had gone to Shechem to fulfill his father’s will despite the danger in which this placed him. Some say that by burying him there the Jewish people were atoning for the sin of their ancestors selling him.
13) Place of Avimelech
The mother of Avimelech, son of Gidon (one of the judges of the Jewish people) was from Shechem. After Gidon passed away, Avimelech conspired with wicked people from that city to murder his brothers and become the next leader of the area. (They succeeded in killing 69 of his brothers except for the youngest one who escaped.)
Avimelech’s short reign of three years was beset with internal infighting as the men of Shechem ended up turning against him. At one point, Avimelech captured Shechem, killed the inhabitants, destroyed the city, and poured salt on the area (to make it unfit for agriculture).
Avimelech’s reign of terror ended when a woman who was in a tower that he was besieging, threw a millstone down on him, mortally wounding him.
14) Rechavam’s (Failed) Coronation
After Kong Solomon passed away, his son Rechavam was slated to become the next king. His coronation was supposed to take place in the city of Shechem. Some say that he arranged for the coronation to take place there as he wanted to assert his rule over the northern tribes. Others say that the place was chosen by those tribes as they wanted to be able to rebel against his rule (as they did, see below) in a territory that was friendly to them.
Unfortunately, after Rechavam refused to lower the tax burden, the ten northern tribes proclaimed independence from his rule and crowned Yeravam ben Nevat from the tribe of Efrayim as their king. Rechavam barely escaped with his life.
15) Was the Capital City of Yeravam’s Rule
Yeravam established Shechem as his capital. Presumably his son, Nadav, who only ruled for three years, was also situated there. Basha ben Achiyah of the tribe of Yissachar led a coup and wiped out the entire family of Yeravam and established the seat of his kingdom in Tirtzah.
16) Mentioned in Tehillim and Hoshea
The city of Shechem is mentioned twice in the book of Tehillim and once in the book of Hoshea (as a place of murderous people. (See above regarding Avimelech).
Reason for the Name
Some say that Chamor, the leader of the city in Yaakov’s time (see above), named the city after his son Shechem. The Ramban (on Gen. 12:6) takes an opposite approach and says that Chamor named his son Shechem after the city over which he was ruling. Others say that the original name of the place was Shalem and that it was the sons of Yaakov who renamed it Shechem to recall the tragedy of Dinah’s abduction and the subsequent destruction which they wreaked there.
May We Soon See the Restoration of Shechem and the Tomb of Yosef to Jewish Rule!
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom Umevorach!
Copyright 2025 by Rabbi Aryeh Citron
