May a person build a home in Jericho today? TB Sanhedrin 113

 Today’s daf TB Sanhedrin 113 discusses the implications of Joshua’s curse after he conquered Jericho. “And the city shall be devoted, it and all that is in it, to the Lord…And Joshua charged them at that time by oath, saying: Cursed be the man before the Lord, that rises up to build this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it” (Joshua 6:17, 26).

Consequently, “It is taught in a baraita that this includes a prohibition not to build Jericho even after changing its name to the name of another city, and not to build another city after giving it the name of Jericho, as it is written: “Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; with Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and with his young son Segub set up its gates” (I Kings 16:34). It is taught in a baraita: From the death of Abiram, his firstborn, the wicked, it was not incumbent upon him to learn not to build Jericho, as Abiram’s death could be attributed to chance. But with the death of Segub his young son, it was incumbent upon him to learn that it was due to Joshua’s curse that they died.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Is Joshua’s curse still applicable today? Rabbi Zev Reichman in his book Daf Delights-Sanhedrin asks the question may a person build a home in Jericho today. He writes:

“(Nefesh Chayah writes)… Perhaps Joshua only prohibited building the wall of Jericho. The city wall protects the city and transforms a settlement into a city. Joshua speaks of the gates. This is a reference to the gates of the city wall. Perhaps Jews are always allowed to buy homes and live in Jericho; we just may not rebuild its walls.

“Shu’t Moadim Uzemanim (cheilek 5 siman 347) agrees with Nefesh Chayah. The curse of Joshua was against a person who would seek to build an entire city like Jericho in order to remember the Canaanite city. Yet a person who wishes to build a single home for himself to live in Jericho, without any desire to commemorate and remember the city Joshua defeated, may do so.

“Rav Chaim Berlin (Sha’arei Torah year 5663 volume 4 siman 42) points out that in his day many Jews were developing new agricultural settlements in the land of Israel. He warns them not to name any town Jericho. He believes that Joshua’s curse is still applicable. The curse forbade the rebuilding of Jericho and is spot rebuilding any other town and calling it Jericho. No one should miss violating the curse by naming his town Jericho(Mesivta)” (page 354-5)

You should know that there is a small Jewish community living in Jericho today. A small, dedicated group called "Jewish Jericho" formed after Jericho was transferred to the Palestinian Authority in 1994.