שופטים, פרק א׳, פסוק כ״ו

A man leaves his home to journey to a new region, establishing a city destined for an extraordinary history. His migration takes him to the land of the Hittites, an area located north of Syria in what is modern-day Turkey [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This territory belongs to a different group entirely and is not associated with the familiar Hittite nation counted among the seven nations of Canaan [רד״ק].

Upon arriving, he builds a new city and names it Luz, inspired by the thin nuts that naturally grew in that location [רש״י]. By choosing this name, he ensures that his new settlement preserves the title of his original city forever, a lasting identity that it successfully maintains throughout the generations [רד״ק].

Beyond merely keeping its name, the city develops a miraculous, almost eternal character, remaining completely untouched by the massive upheavals that reshape the ancient world. When Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, conducts his campaigns of exile, he does not scatter the residents of this city, and later, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, leaves it entirely undestroyed [רש י ורד״ק]. According to the traditions of the Sages, the city also serves as the center for dyeing the special blue thread. Even more remarkably, a unique law of nature governs the area, preventing the Angel of Death from entering its borders. Because no one can pass away inside the city, elderly residents who grow tired of living and finally wish to die must be carried outside the city limits, and only there do their lives come to an end [רד״ק].