The name Luz denotes the principle of eternity. Chazal (Vayikra Rabbah 18) teach that there is a certain tiny bone within the human body that does not decompose. It is from this indestructible bone that Hashem will resurrect the dead. HoRav Mordecahi Ilan, zl, explains the background, the name change from the original Luz to Bais-El (Beth-El). Until Yaakov Avinu emerged on the scene, people thought that the way to ensure continuity is through the establishment of community, etc. Thus, they named the city Luz, because its name representes endurance and perseverance. Our Patriarch changed the city’s name to Bais Kel, House of G-d. His message was quite simple; if you want permanence, if you desire enduring cultural growth, you must infuse the community with a spiritual element. It must have a Divine Component. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that Luz is actually Yerushalayim. In other words, the holy city of Yerushalayim is the foundation of Techiyas HaMeisim and for the future of the world.
Luz had other distinctions. Chazal (Berashis Rabbah 69:8) asserted that Luz is where they dyed the techeiles, bluish wool used for Tzitzis. This was the city to which Sancheirav came, but did not disarrange- as he did to all the world by exiling nations from their native countries. When Nevuchadnetzar destroyed all of Eretz Yisrael, he did not destroy Luz. Last, it is the city in which the Malach Ha’Maves has no dominion. (The Yifeh Toar suggests that the Angel of Death and dying are allegorical references to the Yetzer hora, evil inclination.)
The city of Luz personified purity and lucidity. It had no ambiguity, no gray area, no prevarication of any kind. It is such a place that produced techeiles made of the true color, not kala ilan, a similar dye the charlatons used to convince people that they were wearing techeiles. It is the city which symbolizes Nitzchiyus, eternity, a city which the evil Sancheirav and Nevuchadnetzer could not touch. It is in that city, that the Luz bone which endures through any form of destruction, that Hashem saves the person from death. The nature of this is Kiyum ha nitzchi, eternal truth. When something is emes, it is Yatziv, Nachon, V’Kayom. These unique attributes characterize our holy city of Yerushalayim, which was the original city called Luz. When the beginning of Yerushalayim is Luz (or built on the principles which define the character of Luz), it endures forever.
