3,816. What's Considered a Walled City?

Hilchos Shemittah v’Yoveil 12:14

A city is only considered a walled city if it has at least three courtyards, each of which has at least two houses. The city must first have been surrounded by the wall and the courtyards built inside of it. However, if someplace was first settled and only later was it surrounded by a wall, or if it didn’t have at least three courtyards with at least two houses in each, then it is not a walled city for purposes of this law. Rather, the houses are considered as if in a village.

Hilchos Shemittah v’Yoveil 12:15

We only rely on walls that surrounded cities when the land of Israel was originally conquered. Therefore, if a city wasn’t surrounded by a wall when Yehoshua conquered the land, its houses are considered as those of a village; this is so even if the city is now surrounded by a wall. Conversely, if a city was surrounded by a wall during the time of Yehoshua, it is considered walled even if it no longer has such a wall. When the Jews were exiled following the destruction of the first Temple, the sanctity of walled cities from the time of Yehoshua went away. When Ezra returned to the land with the Jews, all of the walled cities at that time were sanctified. This is because the re-entry in the time of Ezra was similar to the initial entry in the time of Yehoshua. The Jews counted shemittah and yoveil, sanctified houses in walled cities, and were obligated in tithes just as they were after the initial entry in Yehoshua’s day.