Refuse to Build More Walls

Nehemiah 3:5

On this day on which the Nakba is remembered - we read about another ancient wall built to protect - and divide.

Why do walls that are there to defend us from harm so often cause so much harm instead?

They say it takes a village. Nehemiah, 2,500 years ago, says: it takes a town.

After his nocturnal tour of the disheveled Jerusalem, its walls broken, the newly appointed governor springs into action - mobilizing the people to rebuild their walls - and boost morale. The people rise.

But not everybody is on board.

Chapter 3 is a sacred spreadsheet of who rebuilt which part of Jerusalem’s wall.

Over 40 groups—priests, Levites, district rulers, goldsmiths, perfumers, temple servants, and even women—mobilize, and each are named, lifting stones in one of the great collective actions of this restoration story. Even the high priest Eliyashiv is part of the program, not in prayer robes, but in work boots. Next to him are merchants and farmers from nearby Jericho, Gibeon and Zanoah. In verse 12, “Shallum… ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired—along with his daughters.”

Daughters in ancient construction crews? Unclear why these women are specifically mentioned, though not named, as those who were also laying bricks for a safer future.

But there is one group in this collective list that stands out for the way they chose not to participate. It’s a short reference but enough to hint at what may have been a bigger story of dissent and political complexities. The list goes on to describe bit by bit the parts of the wall that get rebuilt, until it gets to the people of Tekoa whose leaders are called out for their refusal to show up:

וְעַל־יָדָ֖ם הֶחֱזִ֣יקוּ הַתְּקוֹעִ֑ים וְאַדִּֽירֵיהֶם֙ לֹא־הֵבִ֣יאוּ צַוָּרָ֔ם בַּעֲבֹדַ֖ת אֲדֹנֵיהֶֽם׃

Next to him, the Tekoites repaired, though their nobles would not take upon their shoulders the work of their master.

Nehemiah 3:5

Tekoa, about 10 miles south of Jerusalem, is on the edge of the wilderness. It was famous as the home of the prophet Amos and as the dwelling-place of ‘the wise woman’ from the days of the prophet Samuel. Tekoa is not mentioned in the list of towns in Ezra 2 or in the earlier geography of Zeubabbel’s return project. Perhaps the Jews in the early phases of the return could not extend so far south yet? Or did they have other bonds and ties of allegiance to the locals of the land? Perhaps they didn’t just live on the edge of the wilderness but among the people of that land?

The wilderness was home to many of the local neighbors including the people of Edom, Ammon and Arabia. The leaders of these tribes or nations are also named here - Sanbalat the Samaritan, Tobias the Ammonite and Geshem of Arabia mock the project: ““That stone wall they are building—if a fox climbed it he would breach it!”

Later on this chapter Nehemiah would mention the people of Tekoa again for building yet another part of the wall.

This hints at different factions from this little town, with different political priorities. Why did their leaders object to Nehemiah’s project and still get a specific mention as those who do not carry the yoke?

Rashi claims arrogance.Radak says classism—they thought it beneath them to follow orders.

Modern scholars see resistance to Nehemiah’s leadership, or perhaps the Persian regime he represented. The leaders of Tekoa perhaps stand for a voice, if small, among the locals who have kept Jewish presence in the land, who may be siding with the local powers- that are getting riled up and upset. They see what’s going on and how the situation on the ground is shifting - and not in their favor. With every brick added to the wall - the newly restored city of Jerusalem will begin to attain power at their expense.

Tekoa, way on the periphery, may have had strong ties with these local groups and their sizable power. The hostility of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem and their resistance to Nehemiah’s project could have threatened the towns on the borders - like Tekoa. Perhaps the local leaders of Tekoa sympathized with the Arabian chiefs represented by Geshem, or have had intimate relations with the local people - objecting to Nehemiah and Ezra’s divisive politics and raising of walls?

Either way, their refusal is recorded forever, they alone are remembered for opting out of the wall.

The tensions that appear as cracks in the new wall echo loudly in today’s reality.

Tekoa is a sprawling settlement, overlooking the Judean desert and the Palestinian land of strife. It was the home of

Rabbi Menachem Froman, a settler who “became a fervent, startlingly unconventional voice for conciliation with the Palestinians.” those living there today include left-leaning peace activists alongside right-wing zealots. It’s complicated.

In today's Israel, as the brutal war continues and as the internal fabric is barely holding with so many different priorities and political opinions - the nation is divided by those who join the national effort - and those who can’t, don’t or won’t.

A small though group of reservists is refusing to serve and help the Netanyahu government stay in power with no real goals for fighting in Gaza other than occupation and the death of hope. For some in Israel, those who refuse are heroes. For the mainstream they are traitors.

At the same time, the vast majority of Ultra-Orthodox Jews refuse to join the army for other reasons, an ongoing crisis of civic-religious participation in the co-creation of the country.

No denying that walls are critical for our protection and safety. Nehemiah understands the basic needs to build a broken nation.

What walls are being built in his version of the story - who’s building, resisting, protesting - who is named, mentioned, ignored?

In his memoir Nehemiah doesn’t directly shame the nobles of Tekoa. He just names their resistance as he lists the way the rest opted otherwise. A quiet indictment. A lasting question. Can a national project succeed with too many opposing voices?

Will tall walls or good fences be the wise ways to rebuild trust?

Nehemiah’s wall went up - not fully but enough to feel like progress and communal pride:

וַנִּבְנֶה֙ אֶת־הַ֣חוֹמָ֔ה וַתִּקָּשֵׁ֥ר כׇּל־הַחוֹמָ֖ה עַד־חֶצְיָ֑הּ וַיְהִ֧י לֵ֦ב לָעָ֖ם לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃

We rebuilt the wall till it was continuous all around to half its height; for the people’s heart was in the work.

Nehemiah 3:37

Maybe not all the people - but those who were part of the project did so ‘with their hearts’.

It’s an impressive collective effort, even if archeological evidence is non-existent. Whatever happens here may not have lasting brick and mortar facts on the ground, but the story remains salient - how can a healthy society contain and even cultivate dissent?

What happens next continues the narrative -- the forces from within and those from without will continue to struggle for dominion and power.

Maybe it could have gone down differently, with less hostility and suspicion and more collaboration and shared custody of the land?

Nehemiah’s narrative, likely written with a clear agenda, didn’t choose the good fence route.

Will tall walls or good fences be the wise ways to rebuild trust? Can we focus on the wells and walls of life and not on the tall fences of fear and war?

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