Parshat Vayishlach (וישלח – And he sent), Genesis 32:4–36:43.
In this parsha, it is written that Ya’akov buys a piece of land in Shechem (Genesis 33,19), at the very place where G‑d promised Avram (Avraham) that the land of Canaan would be given to his descendants (Genesis 12.6-7). Shechem is also the burial place of Yosef HaTsadiq (Yehochu’a 24.32), as well as one of the 6 cities of refuge (Yehochu’a 21.21, see also Chronicles I 6.52). In 930 BCE, when the Kingdom of Israel separated into two states (the Kingdom of Samaria1 and the Kingdom of Judah), Shechem became the capital of the Kingdom of Samaria (Chronicles II 11,1 et seq.).
The centuries-old attempts to erase the Jewish history2 of this city have been so successful that many people today have never heard the name Shechem (שְׁכֶם). They only know that of Nablus, a name derived from Flavia Neopolis (Greek: Flavia Νέο πόλης – Flavia New City). In 72, the Roman emperor Vespasien, gave this name3 to Chkhem, to destroy the Jewish identity4 of the city.
1 Also called Northern Kingdom or Kingdom of Israel.
2 Located in zone A, the city is forbidden to Jews.
3 Dedication for his wife Flavia Domitilla who died in 69.
4 Just like the Roman emperor Hadrian, gave the name of Palaestina to the region to punish the Jews for their revolt of 132-135. Or as UNESCO is trying to do by denying the Jewish identity of certain places in the land of Israel.
Genesis 33.19
וַיִּקֶן אֶת-חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה, אֲשֶׁר נָטָה-שָׁם אָהֳלוֹ, מִיַּד בְּנֵי -חֲמוֹר, אֲבִי שְׁכֶם–בְּמֵאָה, קְשִׂיטָה.
He acquired the portion of land where he pitched his tent,
from the hand of the children of Hamor, father of Chkhem percent kesita.
Genesis 12, verses 6 and 7
ויעבֹר אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה והכנעני אז בארץ
וירא יי אל-אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את-הארץ הזאת ויבן שם מזבח ליי הנראה אל
Avram advanced into the country as far as the territory of Chkhem, as far as Elon Morhé;
the Canaanite then inhabited that country.
The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I make this land for your descendants.
He built there an altar to G‑d who had appeared to him.
Yehochu’a 24:32
וְאֶת-עַצְמוֹת יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר-הֶעֱלוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְריִם
קָבְרוּ בִשְׁכֶם בְּחֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר קָנָה יַעֲקֹב מֵאֵת בְּנֵי-חֲמוֹר אֲבִי-שְׁכֶם
בְּמֵאָה קְשִׂיטָה; וַיִּהְיוּ לִבְנֵי-יוֹסֵף, לְנַחֲלָה
As for the bones of Yossef, which the children of Israel had carried away from Egypt, they were buried at Chchem, in the piece of land which Ya’akov had acquired, for a hundred kecita, from the sons of Hamor, father of Chchem, and which became the property of Yossef’s children.
Yehochu’a 21:21
כא וַיִּתְּנוּ לָהֶם אֶת-עִיר מִקְלַט הָרֹצֵחַ, אֶת-שְׁכֶם וְאֶת-מִגְרָשֶׁהָ–בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם; וְאֶת-גֶּזֶר, וְאֶת-מִגְרָשֶׁהָ.
They were given the city of refuge for the murderer, Chkhem with its suburbs,
in Mount Ephraim; Ghezer, with its suburbs;