The Holy City of . . . Lod? Pesachim 62 A side story on today’s daf seems to have a negative view of the city of Lod . The Gemara reports a conversation between Rabbi Simlai and Rabbi Yochanan where Rabbi Simlai asks Rabbi Yochanan to teach him Sefer Yochsin (Divrei HaYamim). Rabbi Yochanan wants to know where Rabbi Simlai is from and upon hearing that he is from Lod and lives in Nehardea, refuses to teach him. Rabbi Yochanan claims that we do not teach people from Lod and from Nehardea and you are from both those places! Why does Rabbi Yochanan look down on Lod (Nehardea is not in Eretz Yisrael so someone else will have to deal with that question!)? Lod is an ancient city, located in central Israel : We already hear about it in Tanakh, it is in the tribe of Benjamin and is resettled in the time of Ezra and Nehemia. It is centrally located, about a day’s walk from Jerusalem , and on the border between the coast and the Shfelah (lowlands). Lod was known as a wealth