The Story of the Giv'onim | Rabbi Neil Winkler | April 23 2026

In going through Sepher Yoshua, uh it is the challenge to um not simply stay here uh stand and uh tell you what happens next because the fact is that uh my point in all of these Shim we've been giving for years is that it's more than what the text tells us. It's is a matter of using specifically the words themselves and the text itself to see what what is it what is it telling us as opposed to going straight to the rashi and to the rad and you know which I'm not saying is right not is not good it's very important but I'm very very strongly uh believing that we have to be able to understand the simple text and there thereby understand why our wonderful paranim are telling us this where they got that from. At any rate um much of the story of of Yeshua and Yoshua has to do with the battles has to do with what was what they managed to um con conquer. Um it has to do with the um uh the depart uh the splitting up of the um specific parts of the thing and giving them and settling them by by tribe by tribe. Um, and the beginning, the start of the of the book of Yoshua, however, does include the stories that we went through and that we did last week, which is the story of Akan and the story now of the um there. No, I knew I put her here someplace there. Um, and now the stories that we will be going through of the um of what happens afterwards. Now I we know that Israel had been um attacked uh but they had invaded the city. I they were set set back. they had to run away and uh because of the sin of Akan. And we spent the time last week trying to figure out why it is that the text tells us not simply about aan but says very clearly um as I think is it's on page probably eight I imagine um which says Ben is that Israel who sinned and it was because Ben took the uh the the procription as it says here in the wonderful um translation which I always find is more difficult than the Hebrew. uh and the it was it was that which the was the spoils that they were not allowed to take from and it says took it and therefore is so again that whole concept that it was one man who took this who took it was wrong and he made a sin and yet the response of God is he got really angry at Israel and we tried to go through and I think we did nicely last week why they God blamed all of them. Uh why he saw the sin to be a sin of the entire community and not a sin just of a beni. And if you recall, and I hope I do, uh the sin that we we showed was that whether one person took it or not, it was an attitudinal problem that God saw and that I showed you in the text are clear. I'm going to repeat what I said last week and I apologize for those too who were here but uh for the others who are not. The challenge that God had in taking slaves out of Egypt is the fact that slaves are used to being told what to do. Do this, do this, do this, and they do that. if you know if they aren't told you have to do that so somebody else would do them. He takes them God takes them out into uh the desert. In effect he took them liberated them from uh from Egypt. And what they did mostly is complain and sit there okay and they were watching the plagues. They were being saved from plagues. They had Moshe telling them why, what will happen, so on and so forth. And they did as much as they could, nothing. Uh that's what they did. Sometimes they were told, look, you better do this or so. But basically, they did nothing. Then they had it come out came out of Pesak and they were told you have to do these things, which they do. Um and uh Moshe leads them and they go through and they complain here and they complain there, you know, but they go on comes to Yamsuf. They complain because they see the Egyptians chasing them. No, I'm I'm I'm on their side on this one, man. It's a scary thing. We are talking about the most powerful empire with the most powerful uh army and um these poor these uh masses of slaves are going out and the only thing they have to fight is of was with their sheep and their goats, you know, which doesn't quite stand up against the powerful um chariots, you know, and Understand the ancient world a chariot was the tank and if you don't if have the chariot and we'll see by the way as long as much as hundreds of years later in the time of of the chaim the time of sha that whether it was the iron age or not that the Israel didn't have tanks they didn't have chariots the powerful um I won't say allies the enemy ies did have chariots and that's why Israel was very always usually the weaker one and the victories were that remarkable you look at the story of Dvora and so on and so forth um so they frightened they were wait and what happens God does it for them he has this uh splitting of the three trick you know you get to be can go there And when they were complaining before this happened, God says to them or to Moshe actually a very important thing that Moshe tells to the people. He said Moshe tells the people stop complaining. Said God will fight for you. They saw the Egyptians come. They're gonna God's gonna the same God who gave me 10 plagues. He'll do this too. God will fight for you and you basically shut up and stop complaining. Uh you shall be silent. That's what he says. I've used that two wonderful words to my students over and over again. Can't say shut up. I said stop talking. That's one thing. It comes not long after that because that's you have the wonderful and then later you see comes on my lake and now there's a real uh a a real battle going on because they already attacked and and they weren't just coming. And what does God do? Why doesn't Moshe say, "Don't worry about it." But what does God say? He tells Yoshua, I'm sorry. He tells Moshe, said, "Get up." And he said to him, uh, he says, "Moshe goes to the and he says, Yoshua, get up, gather a army and start fighting against Amalik." Why? And I told you crucial crucial part. When you get an army like well a better a population like Israel at the time who are so used to getting things getting things we want water okay got the water for you we're so hungry we'll give you the man you know but there's no meat over here what are we going to okay we'll give you the slav it's wonderful thing that's what happens after they expl they cross the sea now they get real enemy what are their expectations Okay, God will take care of that, too. And God said, "Eh, ain't going to happen that way. I plan to have you into the land of Israel in a couple of weeks." That was that was his plain plan. You're not going to sit there and have everything happen to you. Say, "You have to draw. You have to want it. You have to fight. I'm not going. Yes, I'll help you out. I'm going to give uh the poor 80 80 year old man have to keep his leg his arms up and be helped there. Okay, but they'll see that was God. They'll see it was miraculous. God will help you but only when you help yourself. It was Benjamin Franklin who said that God helped them. That's exactly why. And that's how you have to train a a a nation. Eventually after the of that's what God understood very well. It can't be once whether you come from slaves to be an independent nation. He had to develop that concept that now you will be doing things. That's why as soon as they got into Israel there's no more man coming. Well now they have to work the you've got to do this. So this concept that you must do not me I'll help you right is crucial and that's safe for Yoshua. Yoshua comes in as and he now has to tell the people okay guys this is what we got to do. we've got to do this. And the brilliance of Yahosua and really miraculously was that as I've told you before that 40th 40th year generation that was complaining and complaining even the 40th year in the desert now goes to Yahosua and not once in the entire book of Yahosua is there a complaint not against God, not against Yahosua. They pray. They do pray. Oh, we must have done something wrong. Help us out. Here we are now with Akan. God says, "I know one person sinned." But what happened here? Probably, you know, his mother-in-law probably knew about it. That's for sure thing. And the kids, but even beyond that, I can't say that because it don't it doesn't say that. You know what it does say? They were going to attack the first time they went to they didn't attack anybody. They had a parade. They had a very good time. God says and the walls came tumbling down and they came in and said, "Okay, let's pick up this." They were gone. They had nobody to fight really. And now this is the first time they're going to battle. So Yoshua sends the spies and says it's it's the city called I, you know, if it was the E or I, but anyway, um they go to the city of I and they go come and the spies come back and they say, "Josh, listen. Not a lot of people there. We're going to shle all the whole army. I'm sure they're exhausted from marching around for seven days. Send two, 3,000 of us. That'll be enough. And God thinking, you haven't won one battle yet. You haven't done anything and you're so confident that everything is terrific. Send two, three,000 people. As we find out, by the way, there were 12,000 people in I. It wasn't, especially in the ancient world, such a small little um village there. And they're so confident God's going to do it. We're okay. And Godz and they lose the first of the bats. What a phenomenally important thing. And they're panicked. What happened? So when he finds out that Akan did this, so was Akan sin? Why would he do such a sin? Why would he take the booty and the spoils if after all God said don't do that? Because as a senator from New York uh state said in 1825, I think it was to the victors go the spoils. What does that mean? Why would you take spoils? Because you think that you are the victor. Why shouldn't we take that? We won the war. Got you won the war. I knocked down all the help. You won the war. You did nothing. But that attitude that we are victors when you haven't won one thing yet, when you're so sure God's going to do it, we don't need an army. God's going to save everything. No more said. But that concept was horrible. And that's what happened. And that's why it says Israel. That's what God was saying with all of Israel. The proof of it that they said we can be and anyway they eventually go back and they uh first of all they as we learned last time they find out that it was Akan. He uh admits to a sin he is punished which you know death does that good punishment. uh he's put to death and uh they go to the uh the second battle and and with with a brilliant military way they actually make believe that they're running away again and won the whole as city of I runs out to chase them. they already have a second part of the army which comes in and burns down the city and they when and that's what happened um in in the end of a eye but what we did not do is um that's the bottom of page 11 here was exactly what I just told you about how the people of I andrew are running away I'm not going to bother you because I did such a wonderful was not explaining what happened. Uh you know about how they ran away and how they were sued and uh it it was it was a great movie because the way that the Tanakh puts it in they said the people of the eye the army ran after them. Ah we're going to kill him again and then some smoke. There's a barbecue. What is the smoke? They turn around and they see the whole the whole city is up in flames. They realize ah and they start running back and that's what happened. Uh and that's how they were and they uh the population was the killed and uh that that's the end of page 11. I know and that is what we did uh last week and that's what I wanted to finish this week and that is the end of that um battle with I what we have now is two things um the first thing and I'm on page 12 here in the beginning of the eighth chap I'm I'm sorry the end of the eighth chapter per we have notice I put everything in English for you. Uh, and I apologize for the English because only this stuff that I fixed uh is intelligence. The other stuff is what they said and I had I put it that way. I didn't have the time. Um and you see that it was at that point where at that time after the defeat at um of I that Yeshua builds a misbeh an altar to God where the haral does that haral come a little bit somewhat perhaps familiar to you the story of harval and harim and harval that's right right near and that the two mountains are there if you go today yeah if you gut enough and go to the the clever of of y And he goes, "You can see there the harim and har when I saw that the first time I was but a little tight." Uh anyway, all right. So I wasn't but there I and I had my kids with me and I I was remarkably seeing I said look Harriine was which is full of greenery very nice and harv desert almost deserted it's exactly how it's explained you know they put the curses where those people are um uh those tribes standing I higher aval listening to the curses and on greim which was flourishing and beautiful would be tribes that were listening to the blessings. So um that was always a kazal I'll say this before and it wasn't but that's clearly true. I'm not going to go through the weathers and where the uh rainfalls fall, which is why it happens that way. But it was fascinating to see that. And there is in Haral he builds an altar. Uh why this is exactly what God had told Moshe to do. Um and it's found in the Torah mean he built a full um of altar of unhuned stone. Um and um they offered on it the burnt o offerings and brought sacrifices and there on the stones he inscribed a copy of the teaching of Mosha Abando uh and now written for the Israelites. This is precisely almost word for word what God tells Moshe you should do when you cross the yard. We discussed early that was it right when they were cross Yard. Of course not. you know, they have all their enemies around them and they said, "Well, let us go before we fight and kill you. Can we go to, you know, build an altar?" And that happened. Of course, they wait until they could now walk through these areas they had conquered. And they went to Haral and uh as we read, not only did they build the altar as it should be, but it went on to do exactly what we are we are find that where in a it says that you shall put put the bless blessings and curses on there in it gives you precisely what those curses were then you see that and that's exactly what it says they all sat together they all got together and uh they each stood on either side of the ark facing the lvim kanim who carried the aron so they still had the aron still carried it. Um, half of them faced harim and half of them faced haral as Moshe had told him to do in order to bless Israel. After that, he read all of the words of the teachings, the blessing and the curse just as written in the Torah. Obviously, he took out his he went through and saw what it says there a this and this and this and this a and so amazing. Yahosua did what the Torah said that he should do that Moshe told him he would do. He does exactly that. And as it says here, there was not a a word of all that Moshe had commanded that Joshua failed to read in the presence of the whole congregation, including the women and the children and the strangers who accompanied them. Very powerful. I put that in because that's an important factoid. certain thing that an event that took place because it carries out exactly precisely what the Torah says. And as I had said in our introduction to Sifra Yoshua, Sifra Yoshua is very closely connected to the Torah itself. Samaritans had not five books of Moshe but the six books of the Tanakh. So do the Muslims. they take these six books as these holy books. Um because among other things linguistically also was very close to Darim and the words that are used and so on and so forth. Uh and given the fact that Yeshua was a student of Moshe and of same generation, it's understandable that uh the linguistically it would be very close. Remember that when we finish with Yoshua and we go to Shaft, we're talking about years. You know, language changes after that time. You ever try to read Chaucer? They claim that it's English. Time goes on, it changes what it is. So that here over here, um that's why I included this as an important part. But as we go on in the um I have here p page 12 here we're dealing with the story of the ga on very it's very simple givea on because they came from the city of gaon shocking right um you know like people from Michigan are migers anyway the uh kishmo kinhoo as as the wife the future wife of David said about her first husband Kishmo and he it's like his name his name was Naval means terrible anyway um the story of the giver onim is a very important one here too it ties into a to a um mitzvah or better not a mitzvah but a pro a prohibition we find in the um in the Torah and for that reason it is crucial the story of the give onim um and oh I'm such a yeah I purposely did not um just translate them uh a because it's too much work for me but secondly because of the fact that the pronunation is difficult instead I gave uh what's what it's that you see in chapter 13 the synopsis of what uh this happened there. And um immediately or very closely after the victory of the uh Israelites over the city of I as we see all the kings west of the Jordan that's what we call today you know Uda and Shamro got a west bank I know um in the hill country in the entire coast of the Mediterranean up until the vicinity of Lebanon. When they learned of this, of the victories, they gathered with one accord to fight against Yeshua and Israel. We're going to find out later on, too. But, okay. That's important. Why? Why would that frighten them? Why would they see that as really a possible? We're talking about these these guys who have been for years walking through a desert and getting sand between their toes. What are they what do they have armies military? What frightened them? And that we learned in the beginning of Yahosua who remembers what Rakav said to the the Moragim, the spies who came to see the city of. She says it said all of us are it says their hearts melted when they heard about theatams and and and that they were coming. They knew this is a powerful night. So they knew this is a powerful thing. This is not just you know 22 guys. This is talking about about three million people and they are now crossing over. It's a huge amount of people just coming over and invading this this land. The land is not you know New York City and every it's the land is the land was an ancient land. uh and 12,000 coming in. First of all, they didn't have enough uh you know hotels for the Jews for the coming to stay there. That's a problem. But even if it was just the adults and the armies, it's a big army. So they were frightened and they know what had been done for them. So they're afraid. Okay. Among them is the people of Gon, the Gibuitites, the Givonim. The story is of Gonium is simple. The inhabitants of Gon had learned how Yahushua had treated Yiko and I. And they themselves said, "Look, basically they said, we ain't going to be able to car to to defeat this this army." No, not going to. So they were very clever. So you know they're almost a little Jewish. Very clever. What are we going to do? What they did is this. They set out in disguise. They took worn out socks for their donkeys and worn out w water skins and other things which they put in patched sandals on their feet, threadbear clothes on their bodies. And all the bread they had they took as prohibition was actually they made sure it was dry and crumbly. I know some places that give that, you know, I know I know restaurants like that too. Uh but anyway, they why? because they go and tell Yoshua at Gilgal because that's where the people now are at Gilgal. Gilgal in the first months and first years during the uh wars and the division of the land to the tribes Israel is the Mah the camping of Israel was at Gilgal. Nobody. It wasn't until they had these specific portions of land that were given out to them that they started to settle there. Even the great tribes, the two and a half tribes of Ruven God and and half of Manasseh, right, who had settled already in the eastern part of the uh Jordan, they promised that they would not settle their lands and their cities that will keep their families there and some uh some guarding for them, but they would lead them into the for the battles in the land itself. So they aren't anywhere but in the camp and the camp is Gilgal. It's there for a while until they settle down and eventually Yoshua moves the Aron from Gilgal to where does it go next after Gilgal? You know Shilo. Go to Shilo after that. If you want to see it, you can go to there. It's unbelievable place. Anyway, good. So they go to uh the Yoshua who's at Gilgar with the people and they and he said to him, you know, we come from a distant land. We don't live in this area. We're not of the part of the Shivat as the guy as the Torah says any of the um I have a man mind block that has grown in the dictionary quite a bit over the last few years. This is one of them. It was uh the the people who lived in Australia uh were actually the what do you call them? The >> aboriges. The original the uh um we're not aboriges. We don't we don't belong here. You know, we came from Hollywood. We're so we're far away. we happen to be walking through, but I found out that you're there, and therefore um um let's make an an alliance. Let's have a we'll make I will make a pact with you. That's what he decides. So, Israel, um I got five more minutes. >> Uh so, Yoshua says, "Hey, man. You know, I checked the Torah last time I was here." Torah says, "I don't know if you really are here for that. I don't know who you are and I can't give you a pact because my God said that I cannot do that. You may be one of the locals here. You may be an aborigy and therefore I'm not going to uh I can't uh make a Brit an alliance with you. So they said, "Well, don't you know um uh we will be your subjects anyway." So Yeshua said, "Well, who are you? Where do you come from?" And they said, "Look, we come from a very distant country." And having heard of the fame of your God, uh, we I mean, we heard the report of all he did in Egypt, of all he did to the two Amorite kings, the Amorei in the in the side of the Jordan, you know, and the the Sikhon and right. So our el elders and the um all the inhabitants of our country told us you know take along provisions for a trip and go to them and say we'll be your subjects make a pack with us. So we're not from here from far away but because you're so powerful we want to be friends. Okay. Um yeah I know my agent the same thing happens to me. Uh so um and they showed them of course um and they said and they said look and I I skipped this part. They said, "Look, we have a moldy bread. We have uh old clothing, you know, and and and obviously we've been on a long trip." And that's how you can know that we're not if we were here, we would have gotten, you know, to the mall and would have gotten something look nice to them. So that's what they said. And as a result, therefore, uh those involved took their word because of their provisions and did not inquire of God. In other words, Israel said, "Yeah, okay. I guess so." And they didn't ask God, "Uh, are they lying or not?" Right? So, Yeshua established a friendship with them, and he made a pact with them to spare their lives. Okay? We won't kill you. You know, you know, you have to clip your fingernails, but you know, we won't kill you. We're okay. And the chieftains of the community gained them an oath, a shuv promise, promise, promise, right? Um after three days, um they found out that liars, liars, you know, they're actually were completely untrue. Also known as Iranians, but they um and so um They found out what we're going to do, but they they didn't attack them even though they had right to do so because they had sworn to them in the name of God that you know they wouldn't well the whole community who found out what happened you know communities do they probably have um opposition people and they probably you know dancing in the some some place in Tel Aviv complaining about something and they muttered against the chief You know what what did this guy do? Why do you do that? We should we should kill them. This is that what we should do. So they said the they said to the community, look, we swore to them by God and therefore we can't tr touch them, but what we'll do we they made them of just wood cutters. Isn't it easy? No. Huers of what? wood and they would use them and drawers of water drawers, you know, the same thing and for the whole community. And Yeshua then before that went to them and he asked them, "Why did you deceive us and tell us you lived very far from us when in fact you're living right here and because of that may you be cursed? Never shall your descendants not be slaves." But again, this your thing, it'll be wood cutters and water drawers for the house of God. Now, that's he's going to happen be not Gohan and Levia, but they're going to be of that. So, that's what happened. And or or so we would think that's what happened. Of course, that's not all what happened. And what happened afterwards and that is um an interesting thing which happens with then when when as we'll see in the next time the these alliances against Israel I those dates I'm talking about uh who said in the beginning of this perak that they got together and they it's be against Israel. Um they attack the Gonim the and the h the city of Gon because they said you're helping them. You know what's going to happen now? Well, Israel have to now defend them. But that'll be next week. We'll see you when something happens then. Okay. All right. Good. Have a good shabas. Everything should be well.