3,881. Ten Levels of Holiness

Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 7:13

There are ten levels of holiness in Israel, each higher than the next. The cities that are surrounded by walls are holier than elsewhere in Israel, with the result that people with tzaraas must exit such cities. A body may not be buried in walled cities without the consent of the whole city or seven designated representatives. If a body has been taken outside a walled city, it may not be returned even if all the residents agree. If the residents of a walled city want to exhume a body and remove it, they may do so. Any body may be so exhumed except for a king and a prophet. Let’s say that a grave was originally outside a city, but the city grew until the grave was surrounded on all four sides, or at least on two sides that faced one another. If there was originally more than 50 cubits (about 75’) between the grave and the city on either side, the body may not be exhumed unless every resident of the city agrees; if the distance was originally less, it may be exhumed.

Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 7:14

Jerusalem is holier than other walled cities. Sacrifices of lesser sanctity and second tithe must be eaten within its walls. No corpse may be left within Jerusalem overnight, human bones may not be transported within Jerusalem, homes in Jerusalem may not be rented, and a ger toshav (non-Jewish “resident alien”) may not settle there. Graves are not permitted in Jerusalem except for those of the Davidic dynasty and that of Chuldah the prophetess, which remained from the days of the early prophets. Gardens and orchards may not be planted in Jerusalem, nor seeded or plowed, out of concern for a foul odor. The only trees that may be maintained is a rose garden that was there from the time of the earlier prophets. A trash heap may not be maintained in Jerusalem out of a concern for ritually unclean vermin. Balconies and overhangs may not protrude into the public domain because of tent impurity. Furnaces may not be built within Jerusalem because of smoke. Chickens may not be raised in Jerusalem out of a concern that they will render ritually clean objects unclean. For similar reasons, a kohein may not raise chickens anywhere in Israel. A house in Jerusalem never becomes the permanent property of its purchaser, nor can such a house be ruled “leprous,” Jerusalem can’t be ruled an idolatrous city, and an eglah arufah (in the case of an unsolved murder) is never brought from Jerusalem, all because Jerusalem was never divided among the Tribes.