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Yehoshua 7-12 and the battle with Ai (bitachon)

Written by Anonymous

Here is the summary for Yehoshua Perakim 7-12:

7) At the beginning of the Perek, we learn that Achan took from the spoils
of Yericho. Then, the Children of Israel attempt to conquer Ai but fail.
Yehoshua prays to Hashem and is told to single out the perpetrator of the
‘meilah’ (taking of G-d’s property). Achan is singled out and killed.

8) Attempt 2 to conquer Ai: A superb tactical plan of ambush, engineered by
G-d Himself, proves the deciding factor in completely destroying the city
and a total victory is won. Yehoshua then builds a Mizbayach and the
Children of Israel stand on Har Eval & Har Grizim and receive the blessings
and the curses.

9) The Givonim (Gibeonites) pretend to be from a far away land (Essex was
it?) and make a peace treaty with the Israelites. Then they realise that
they were fooled because the Givonim lived nearby – they should have asked
G-d first. Yehoshua curses them that they wil be woodchoppers, water drawers
and slaves.

10) 5 Amorite kings try to smite Givon and the Bnei Yisrael have to come to
their aid. A great victory is won, including Hashem “pummels” (lashon
Artscroll) them with hail, the sun and moon standing still and hanging the
5 Kings after their capture in a cave. The BY then take many southern
cities.

11) Yehoshua pre-empts an attack by northern Kings on G-d’s advice and wins
another victory. Chatzor is burned. The Sefer records that Yehoshua did not
omit a thing of what Hashem commanded Moshe to do. There is then a summary
of the conquests.

12) Another summary of what the Bnei Yisrael conquered under Moshe, then
Yehoshua. 31 Kings are listed in turn.

DVAR TORAH (From Rav Leibtag): Perek 7 opens with the statement that the Bnei Yisrael did meilah; that they took the consecrated property of Yericho (which G-d
forbade them to take). Then we hear that Achan from the tribe of Yehuda was
the culprit. So who did the sin? Everyone or just Achan? Also, if you
compare the two attempts to conquer Ai, the first involved a very light
elite force whereas the second involved the whole army – why the change in
battle tactics? Was the failure due to tactical problems or Achan?

If you look at pasuk 3 you will see that the men seemed very overconfident
in what it would take to capture Ai (“Don’t tire the whole nation there”).
And if you compare their report to that of the spies to Yericho, you will
notice one thing missing – G-d. The fact that they don’t say anything like
‘we have faith that Hashem will help us’ is problematic i.e. they probably
didn’t understand that it was Hashem that helped them destroy Yericho.
Hashem’s halacha to prevent this complacent attitude that ‘we did it
ourselves’ was not to take from the spoils at Yericho. Why? Because they
belongs to the victor – Hashem.

Now we understand who did the sin and what it has to do with Ai: Achan’s
taking of the spoils was merely the most blatant misunderstanding of what
Hashem was trying to do – which is why he was singled out – but really, it
was a wider problem. This is why the first conquest of Ai failed. They only
succeeded once Achan was killed, but also when all the Bnei Yisrael fought,
to show that they can’t be overconfident. From this we can learn lessons for
the modern Israeli army and crucially, that Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh Lazeh –
individuals sin, but sometimes the problem is more widespread.

Shabbat Shalom

Michael

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