The Sin of Achan, Or Israel? | Rabbi Neil Winkler | April 16th 2026

is the story of the war at Jericho. Uh which as I've pointed out to you more than once, it wasn't really a war because it was an as we all know for many years that the walls just came tumbling down. And so they merely came and they brought and all they did after marching around the seven times in the Kohanim and so on and the and the shofarot, the trumpets Um and when everything fell down, they they they they merely had them come in and the and take the booty. But what was and this is a crucial part of the end of this uh the peret and that is when um God tells Yehoshua that of the height of the year of charem he the whole of the share of the share. But all of the booty, all of the wealth, everything that is in the city belongs to God. And it goes on after telling that the first time God repeats it. The rock, he said, however, you have to be very very careful. She will mean a charem. Ben tachrimu ulekachtem min hacharem vesamtem et machane Yisrael lacharem vachartem oto. Do not, it says clearly in the um Be very careful again not to take any of the spoils of the city for that which is herem. Herem here in English is saying something which is proscribed. You see sometimes it's much easier to understand the Hebrew than the English translation of it. That which is proscribed, something that you are not allowed to have, okay? And therefore one should not take that. It says, "Because if you do take from the herem, from the proscribed materials, this time it not Israel herem. You will now make Israel herem, which is not only proscribed, it will be basically destroyed. You will be punished. And also this is and you will the term is because you will be cursed and calamity, let's say. And so I tell them And therefore it will be a calamity if you do that. Be careful. And therefore again, and this is love. God repeats cassette is a hard look like a kosher to a cell. All silver utensils or gold or the kosher copper. Talking about here the on the iron age and then there was also the copper age. Maybe I have to do it. So that very these things were very expensive were very very important those. And Brazil is iron, iron age, right? All of this is called a holy sham. It's to be holy for God outside of sham like a treasure for God. You have to will That was the warning that God gives to Yeshua and Yeshua gives it to the people. It's repeated for good reason, and the good reason is we have perek zayin. We have the seventh chapter that we're up to now, and that's what we're going to do. Not forgetting that we have up to the this chapter. I have actually Here's Here it is. Took it out of reading. I have continued Now, you have the first to seven pages. Those who kept it call it a bonus. Those who didn't too bad. I have it here, actually. But, I'm continuing actually with page eight. Eventually, I'm hoping that they'll have almost a whole curriculum of a review of what's happening in this this the book of Yeshua. So, but I'll be giving out to you now pages eight, nine, 10, 11. So, the beginning of of Here, of uh page eight will be the ending of the sixth perek. And then you'll see that the section number E, I call it cuz I went through the A, B, C, and D so far I'm doing it, okay. Uh we have the section of the of the battles, and that begins with the seventh chapter, perek zayin. I will give it out to you now. There are two sides this time, okay? Yeah, I I think he's just a difference. Yeah, I think he does. that. I don't know. I'll have to check it out. Maybe you're right. Maybe I just I've forgotten this. I don't know. Okay, good. Um There we go. Okay. So, I'm going to begin with the um chapter seven specifically. And you have that here with the first um eight verses. And that is a very important Listen to what it says. After everything that was said at the end of um the um during the sixth chapter, there we had, you know, but that's not what happened. As you see, the Israelites violated the herem, the proscription. How? And this is how it comes. Um Achan ben Carmi ben Zabdi ben Zerah from the tribe of Judah. An individual by the name of Achan, and as you go up three or four generations, he was a Judean, meaning from the tribe of Judah. And he took min ha herem. He took from the proscription. And as a result, vayichar af bnei Yisrael. God got very angry with Israel. And that's the beginning of the chapter. Seemingly, nobody knows about this except for the guy who took it and God. Cuz now it's time to capture and in effect have the first war as the as the Israelites go on to take over the land, which is what the Torah tells them about. Review your shoe, you should take over this land and settle it. So, they start but what do they do? He took his uh man leaders, almost like spies as you will see, from Yeriho where they had to a city called Ai. Where is that? Eastern Eastern from Bethel. East would mean now towards the Jordan and more, okay? And between the Bethel and Jordan. He told to these agents, spies, leaders, whoever he chose, he told them they were "I want you to go and indeed spy out the land. You have to find out about the next uh area where you're going to conquer, to fight with, battle." And so uh So, the men went. Uh these agents went and they spied through and they checked out this city of Ai. When they came back Y'hoshua then he said to them, "Look, don't get the whole army uh now don't gather them together. This is an interesting uh I to me a very uh clear understanding that the term um that we always translate as a nation often, if not more, but often um means the group meaning the army. We talk about um with often meaning that just an army. So, he said, "Don't send the entire army now to um I." Why not? Rather tell send only um a pioneer show I love him I send 2,000, 3,000 soldiers there because because we are cool with I. And they themselves will be able to defeat and to conquer I. I don't think I got some at all to you I don't get a do not tire the people after all they're exhausted from doing nothing. Um and so he said, "Don't make them send the rather came out him out there only a few the population is very small in um I we don't need a whole attack. 2, 3,000 of our guys will take care of it. Okay? I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know so Joshua says, "All right, that's what you can say." So, he sends 3,000 men I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I know And the the 3,000 were really but they had to flee and run away from the army of I. And even Anshei I, the population. And the the Ians the population of I they actually killed 36 of the Israelite army. They were defeated and then chased them down the I and I and I from the gate of I all the way down to Shivarim, to the certain places. You don't know exactly. And they cut them down as a descending. That's even outside of the city. And the people's hearts literally it means they were melted. They were Here it's Here it is just given the use of the it sank because when you melt it goes down, right? And therefore it says by the healing of I. What about the healing of I mean? Water? Yeah. Melted like ice cube and became like water. Or like a candle melts, it becomes like water. They didn't say it said and it was dismay. I don't know which may it was. Maybe it was June or July. But anyway, for some reason it was utter dismay. That's a nice way of putting it. They were very obviously rather depressed. Think about it. God says go. You'll cut Go call my call my share wherever you go and wherever you dress, you will be victorious." And the first time, and this is crucial, and I'm going to repeat it again. It's the first time they're fighting. Think. Think. Think. The first war, they didn't fight. They just got it. Now they have their first war, a war against a city that was so small and weak that they say, "Don't even send everybody there. Send just uh two or three thousand. That's all." And they go there and they lose. It's unbelievable. And that's stuff that go that now hits the Israelites. What was the response? What happens? The next source that I give you, the reaction. So we're told here in the reaction, and again, I'll go straight to the English although last time I did the Hebrew cuz it was more uh uh powerful because of the Hebrews. The English says, Come on. Thereupon. And I'm going to put it there upon in Hebrew. Thereupon, at that point, Joshua tore his clothing. He and the elders of Israel lay until evening with their faces to the ground in front of the Aron, the ark of God. And they strewed earth on their heads, which is, of course, symbolic of mourning, right? And God What does Joshua says? Aha. I have it. Number of times in Tanakh. Aha. I vey is in effect. Oh, my sovereign God, why did you lead this people across the Jordan only to deliver them into the hands of the Amorite to be destroyed them? If only we had content to remain on the other side of the Jordan. What can I say after Israel has turned turned tail which before its enemies? When the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the world hear of this, they will turn upon us and wipe us out. Um our very name and wipe out, sorry, our very name from the earth. And what will you do about your great name? This is an argument, if you have any familiarity of it, that Moshiach used at least twice if not more. It came with the sin of the land and also with the sin of the golden calf. When he In effect, what Moshiach has said and that Joshua saying is almost like How can you do this? If you're going to destroy Israel, in this case, have us lose, what will the enemy say? Like they're going to say, "Oh, you got them out of Egypt just so they can die in the desert." That was it Moshiach said. You are in something of use and I think it's a powerful thing. God, even you cannot commit killer shame. Even God cannot commit a killer shame. You cannot make yourself look worse in the eyes of the people. Who else? That's a powerful thing. Mhm. Who else fights back and wins? It works. That's the important thing. It works. The point is not that well, God, if you are what you say it is what you claim that you are. What you'll be doing is not like what you should do. What did I want to say? I show faith called out to lawyer a sandwich bar. What is he saying? Blackmail? No, he's saying you have committed yourself and put yourself as a just a just person God. You are the the epitome of justice. And you're not going to do something that's just? It's the same thing here. You are the most powerful and you have shown that you're the most powerful. If you do something like this, it will cause others to be my color same shamaya. I It isn't that I have a good reason. Doesn't matter. What they will think is what's going to be happening. And you know, show us that here. Keep doing it. What what what what what I have to say is I'm going to be you shouldn't do it. Keep doing it. I will go away going to get then you have to be punished. I mean, what's there What what else is there to He didn't say he can't punish them. Remember all the times he said I'm going to destroy Israel Moshe and make you a more than a Jew. A destruction of the entire nation We have to tell you to call it genocide. Um that would be a killer lotion. Punishment is not the killer lotion. A destruction of Israel Here, it's not a matter of destruction of Israel, but rather the the commitments to Israel and well known as people in New York who said how powerful you are that you're going to take over here and now you lose the first war. That's the killer lotion. So anyway, that's what they say. And um What am I up to? I'm on the mountain. I turned the page I shouldn't have. That's it. So, um God responds. Because up until this point Joshua has no idea what the heck is happening. He felt he did everything right. He he uh made it clear to the people that they cannot take the wealth of Jericho. He followed God and saw them marching around Jericho and so on and so forth. Everything was good and fine. So, why is this happening? It's a understandable question to a man who has this one-on-one with the Kodesh Baruch. He's talking to them and he doesn't know what happened. God didn't tell him anything. No, he has no idea. And that's why God has to show. Can touch upon that. So, God Hashem answered. All right, get up, he says. Why do you lie prostrate? Israel has sinned. They have broken the covenant by which I bound them. They have taken of the cherem, the proscribed, and put it in their vessels. They have sto- stolen. They have broken the faith. Therefore, the Israelites will not be able to hold the ground against their enemies. They will have to turn tail before the enemies. For they have become they themselves have become cherem, which is exactly what he says to Joshua in the sixth chapter. If they take cherem, they'll become like cherem. So, this is what he says again. And I will not be with you anymore. Wow. Unless you root out from among you what is proscribed. Get rid of the hammer that someone took. Do you find a problem with the story and with the punishment? Well, then he didn't he didn't know. He didn't know. But he It's a problem of his leadership. He should know what his what his people are doing. How was he to know? He don't know. Yeah, he don't know. Who sinned? One guy. One guy, yeah. And then what does it say? Israel has sinned. Israel sinned? Khatta Yisrael? What do you want from them? But um that's whole concept. Who sinned? Akhan or Israel? Akhan did. It would seem that as it says, "Vayikakh Akhan ben Karmi ben Karmi." It was Akhan who took it. So, why are you blaming Israel? Why are they being punished? So, let's try and understand this a little bit more deeply. Um something in a lesson in in entire Sefer Yehoshua. Cuz there is an essence here. I want to think about this here. In the 11th chapter, we are told, for example, I haven't brought that down here, that Yehoshua at the end of the wars, Yehoshua ba- basically took over control of the whole land as God had promised Moshe. And he gave the different parts of the land to the different tribes as it was supposed to. So basically by chapter 11 is coming on, it's all over, right? Joshua fulfilled his mission, the battles have ceased, the land had been conquered, and Israel settled in the land. And it's a to happy ending. Seems to be. But if we go to um the 13th chapter this wonderful ending wasn't seeming perfect at all. It says Joshua became a man as it says about David and it says about Abraham that Joshua got elderly but but as days go on by your master and love and God said to him but by a man. You about to buy a man. You're getting old, he said. The Arabs are the richest. And there's a lot of the land that still has to be conquered. I just said before he controlled it. Now it's going to be like So it seems Joshua didn't fulfill his mission. The battles I guessed had not ceased. The land had not been conquered. Israel had not settled settled over the land. So what happened to our wished for happy ending? And we find at the very end of the book of Joshua, that's where I'm going and I'm jumping from one to the other. Um and there we find that um By the end of the of in chapter in chapter 21, there are 24 chapters in Yeshua. It says "Why you take a assembly Israel? God has given Israel the entire land as he as he promised to hit the forefathers." And they took it over and they um indeed they settled it. Why you knock a sham lahem save? And God gave them a peace uh around them as he promised he would. No one of the enemies really dared to uh to challenge them. Um and he did not though not follow the vow me call her the vow tell nothing that God promised was not fulfilled. Great. A happy ending now. Uh another time we know this is a completion of Yeshua's mission. Until we go to the 23rd chapter. And there it says Why you hear me I mean my being it says after many years of Yeshua being in for charge after there was peace in the land that God uh basically uh weakened all of the enemies uh and Yeshua again says he's got low uh um older and older. He he calls together all of the elders and uh he says to them "Look, I'm I'm old. You saw that everything that what God has done to all the uh foreign not foreign but all the enemies around us um God has battled for you and has given you peace. Uh this at least given you the control. Behold, he says, God is saying, "I have defeated all of these enemies around you, right? And given you the parts of the land to uh, to settle as I promised that I would from here he says, from the west the west until until the east, right? God will always defeat the promise and uh, get rid of the uh, enemies. So, anyway, just said God got rid of them already. What is he saying God will yet fight the enemies around you? And if you're puzzled with that, let me explain what the truth really happened. The real truth we find yes, in uh, but really in Shoftim. Because as Shoftim begins, um, they are told that except for the tribe of Yehudah that succeeded in liberating the promised portion from the pagan tribes, almost no other tribe did that. Let me try and get this clear cuz very few people understand that. It was not Yehoshua's mission to get rid of every one of the city. It was very clear God that yes, you will be able to control, you will be the more powerful of them all, but once they then after the first seven of 14 years of war, when they now settle the land, now it's their job to get rid of the pagans in wherever they live. And the Articles of Confederation, right? In 1781 in the United States, they didn't become the United States. It was a confeder- Each state had their own, you want to call it, army. And they had to fight for, you know, what was in there. So, that was the idea. Each tribe now would now defeat who, you know, all whoever was in them because that was exactly what the Torah said. You have to get rid If you don't do that, well, you they will be like thorns in your eyes and they'll be You have to get rid of these cover all the lot of dollars there. Because that's going to undermine the whole What's the concept of of Judaism that was so great? When the Torah said, Torah says two or three things. The most important thing from the in in the ancient world was that there's one God. And if there's one God, then you're going to listen to one God. And if you're going to listen to that one God, you think of all the things he told you. Once you deny that that there are other gods, then you can do whatever you want to. So, that's a crucial thing. When you allow the foreign influences, pagans, idolatry, uh that undermines the any possibility to be successfully shall we say those who follow God. You know, you don't can't have that. And we're told exactly Lo we wish how we wish Manasseh at Beth Shan even hotel. Um Uh by your Akonani as you have it by Arthur. Manasseh who was supposed to take care of the whole area. They did not successfully get rid of these foreigners or shall I say really the uh the what do we call them? Um Come on. Indigenous. Indigen- indigenous, correct. And the the Canaanites came and took over Beit She'an. And um it says when they got when Israel got they they got stronger Vayasem Hakenaani Lamas. They attacked them, the the Canaanites. Vaholish Vaholish show. But never got rid of them. And it it says in the Tanakh chapter 1 says V'Efraim Lo Horish Et Hakenaani. V'Efraim didn't either. Zevulun Lo Horish. And uh and goes through this and Asher did and Naftali Lo Horish and Bnei Gad um did not. And gave reasons why they didn't. So what happened? God did the right thing and it says that and Yehoshua did the right thing and the open things. He did what God wanted to. He defeated the powerful alliances that threatened Israel as an army. Once they were weakened, then now this is this was God's plan. Every tribe will have their own small army and they'll be strong enough to chase out these these negative uh pagans. Yes, it's possible and the Torah tells us that Torah tells us that if they do not uh if they don't continue with Avodah Zarah, then that it's they can remain. But if they you know if they have the idolatry, they can't. So there it is. So they got to That's what it meant when God gave to Yehoshua the the mission that he did the mission he was supposed to do. It was the Israelites who didn't do that. Now, the how is this tying into the story of Achan? We'll see very, very soon. Okay? And um It was simple. Eventually, I'm giving you at the end, then we'll come back. With the era of Joshua's leadership, when that was closing, the people realized that indeed that the claim the land was not completely conquered. Their enemies were still among them. There were tracts of land that still had to be liberated. And there was idolatrous practice therefore all around. Um So, had God God forbid you reneged on the promised to to remove the pagan influences? No, it wasn't God at all. Rather, when Hashem said and pledged that the way we should call going God's going to chase away all of the other things, he's he did that he did very much that. But he again, it's a very important concept. I ain't going to do it for you. This is no longer in the the manna isn't coming back every morning. You're not going to sit there and let me do it for you. Even though by default he did do that. The expectation is I will set up for you, then you have to go and do what you have to do. You must fight to get the land. I won't go beyond that, as tempting as it is. That's your job. And um this is what they should have been doing. So, I'm going to jump over cuz I don't have that much time and I have a lot of things here that I want to say, but they're not that important. Um Why does Hashem tell Yiricho the spoils of war from Yiricho were not to be yours, but mine? What is God saying? Why can't they have it? They won that mean they were defeating they defeated the Yirichoins. Why can't they get it? Why not? Cuz they didn't defeat them. Who did? Hashem did. So, what do we say as I'm quite quoted from 1825, I think it was a senator from New York. If it was from New York, we'll say it anyway cuz you know, I like him a lot. Uh And he said, "To the victor you know what goes the spoils." Whether he learned the Tanakh or not, I am. But that's a very cool a victor gets the poor spoils and the victor was God, not you. Because you had to do what you have to do. And when you take from God, but God says, "Don't take it. It's not yours. You don't deserve it. It's I do it." What in effect you're saying is that Yeah, it's really we deserve it. And you're falling back to the time in the desert when God's going to do it for you. Which means you're not going to be chasing after the pagans. God will do it for me. And that's exactly what happened. So, what here? What happens now? They didn't recognize it was God's. So, I go back to so what? Who said that it was still Achan who took it? Well, you know what? Maybe not. Maybe yes. Maybe one person took One could say is I think someone here said maybe you know his in-laws probably know he took it. He didn't tell. You know, the family might know. I would I mean, it could be very possible. As you see, he he he covered it up and made sure it wasn't, yeah. As we'll see. But, could be somebody knew and nobody said anything about it. And that could be a reason why that God decided that it all of Israel But, how about this? It may have been just um Achan who took the booty. But, the attitude of Israel still was You know, we can't take the booty, but you know, it's our victory. They still believed that, you know, we don't have to do anything. God can do it for us. I heard Rabbi Shur saying, you know, you ask the question about, you know, why don't they have this on and so forth. I I believe very strongly that that's because in 2,000 of years of Geulah, thought they thought of Golus. They thought, "Oh, Geulah, it's going to be wonderful." And they made a Geulah to be a perfect thing. It's going to be exactly right. And if Herzl may have a beard, he wouldn't have a good hat. So, we It can't be him. And they made up what it should be perfect to be Geulah. Unfortunately, Yeshayahu and Yermiyahu and Yechezkel didn't say that. They say very clearly, "It's not going to be just boom, it's going to happen." They talk about the wars of Gog and Magog. Right, Magog. And then, who's going to fight those wars, by the way? Who's going to fight those wars? Gog Gog and Magog is not in the Gemara. It's not in the Navi. So, I ask everybody here, who's going to fight those wars? You tell people who don't fight. Yes, a problem on how you observe. So, that and so, I believe that within a certain person they had this view, it has to be a perfect thing. And if it's not perfect, then it can't be Geulah. That's why they will not say Reshit It's going to be Reshit Tsemichat Geulah Tenufah. And I suggest that you read my article in the Torah Torah Tidings this week. It's That's the whole point. God will do it. We shouldn't do it. God will do it. But look, 3 years after being gassed in Auschwitz, they were in their own thing. This is not amazing. No, it wasn't perfect. It wasn't it shouldn't be. But I mean you go through what day doesn't have a miracle when you're living here. What day doesn't have it? No, that's not good enough. It wasn't perfect cuz my kind of people shouldn't shouldn't do it. And since my kind aren't doing it, oy oy oy oy oy. And one could understand 100 150 years ago, in the beginning of the Zionists that when it happened that they saw it as a very anti-religious and in some ways it was. Not really but it wasn't the same who's who's living it. It was very uncomfortable. Wake up 100 years later. Hello. What's happening now? Who is the doing it? Who is fighting? Who's learning more than anybody else? Who? And if you're too blind for that So you're doing what happened here. Sit back. We can't do it. We're waiting for God to do it and go God and God can't be doing it cuz it wasn't the way I wanted to be. The chutzpah. The chutzpah. That's what it is. But God God I always I always tell you about this uh This is what I'm talking about in bed uh you dollar thing it is. about Jeroboam the second. Jeroboam the second was not a good guy. He was worshipped idols. He spread idolatry around the entire northern Israel which was the majority of the Jewish Let me rephrase that now. Um the Jewish population. That's what he was doing. And then it tells us that these this Northern Israel Samaria, Samron was very powerful, more powerful than Yehuda, which is no surprise cuz they were much of a larger. Then you worry about they went to say and he it says there who uh the first verse he uh who he said he he pushed the boundaries of Israel all the way up up up up. And before you can ask the question understandably you will you get up from the base medrish and you say, "What? This king of ours I'm a naval He was awful. He's an idolatry." So before you can say that God puts in the in the in bed. It goes and he says for God saw how terrible Israel was suffering. And no one is there to help them. And God never wanted to destroy his people. So he saved them through Jeroboam ben not but Jeroboam ben of today. You know sure Jeroboam. God chooses who is going to be his agent. Not you. You're telling us he wasn't good enough. I don't like him. Like you think you are. And the Torah Tanakh over and over again tells us that. I'm not going to do it for you unless I see that you want to do it. This concept of sitting back as we're so holy we don't have to even go into the mikvah. We don't have to because God's going to save us. That's chutzpah. That's has to be a chutzpah. Chutzpah. Nebach you know people never We were drowning in this last week. It was after wonderful that they had a break there. And the person there was the actually the the I'm not saying he was fair to say that. But he said these young men these young yeshiva kids they say he they always feel nothing's going to happen to them. It's fine. They don't have to follow the laws and they were said don't swim here, don't do that. And they went in anyway. God's going to help me. Welcome to Achan world. I deserve this. And there are too many people who felt that way. And what's my proof of that? Being a nice guy, I gave you the proof someplace here. The proof of it is the very beginning. They haven't even won a war yet. They're going to the first battle. And what do the heads of the army or the agents of Joshua tell them? Ah, you don't have to take everybody there. We're too strong already. You don't have to take everybody. Take 2, 3,000. You know how many people living in the That's so tiny. They're 12,000. It says that right in that paragraph. But they're so sure that they're going to win war cuz God's to it for us. And that's what God was so angry about. That's what God was so angry about. Because they said, "We're going to don't have to do anything. Send two or 3,000 and we'll be fine." So, we can have the booty. And we can have what we need cuz God's giving it all to us. And God says, "No, you're I'm not. You're not not in the desert anymore." That, I believe, is what happened here. The sin of Achan was the sin of all of Israel. When you feel that it's yours, therefore, you're not going to do what you meant to do. And that's exactly what it says in Yeshua and in Shoftim. So, all of the missions that was on you, that it wasn't Yeshua, but for you to do. The mission to get rid of the um pagan see idolaters, the people who would undermine a Torah life. You don't have to do that. Nah, you don't have to do that. It's a horrible thing. And I would submit that's exactly what's happening here. Chata Yisrael, not chata Achan. It is Israel who has sinned because they take on they have taken on themselves that, "Well, now we're okay. Uh God will take care of us." And the biggest and first, perhaps, lesson they had to learn was that God helps them who helps themselves. Okay, so maybe the Torah doesn't say that, but it does say it. But you've got to do it also. You can't sit back and say, "God will do it for me." Huh? It should be a partnership. That's our point. God always says that. He says, "I'll be there. Let's see how much you care about it." What do you think this state it was built around because because we had more people dominating? I'm a violent I have no question. I know from experience that that helps tremendously. But were nobody doing anything but dominating, goodbye. You don't want to do it then. You don't want what God says you have to do. So that's the message for this. And um I do believe that it is one that's very much worthwhile to keep in mind.