{"id":53816,"date":"2018-07-09T17:42:26","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-202\/"},"modified":"2022-11-14T18:23:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T16:23:13","slug":"wall-202","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-202\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Joshua-15"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"202","date":"20260608","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"53605","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Joshua Chapter 15 - Read by Lisa Kirsch ","post_title":"Joshua Chapter 15 - Read by Lisa Kirsch","slug":"joshua-chapter-15-read-by-lisa-kirsch","old_id":"53605","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"202","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Joshua 15","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"read by Lisa Kirsch","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_Joshua_Chapter_15_read_by_Lisa_Kirsch","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"109219","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Caleb, The Careless Father ","post_title":"Caleb, The Careless Father","slug":"caleb-the-careless-father","old_id":"109219","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"202","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But at least he wasn\u2019t as bad as Jephthah\u2026\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In the midst of Joshua 15, which primarily lists the borders and towns of the Promised Land given to Judah, we encounter several verses that are partially reminiscent of a scenario in Judges, where a father flippantly risks the welfare of a close family member to further his own interests:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Caleb announced, \u201cI will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.\u201d<\/span> His kinsman Othniel the Kenizzite captured it; and Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage (Jo. 15:16-17, also in Judges 1:12-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Jephthah made the following vow to the LORD: \u201cIf you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, Then \u201chayotzeh asher yeitzeh<\/em>\u201d (\u201cwhatever comes out\u201d) of the door of my house to meet me on my safe return from the Ammonites shall be the LORD\u2019s and shall be offered by me as a burnt offering\u201d \u2026<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>When Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, with timbrel and dance! She was an only child; he had no other son or daughter. On seeing her, he rent his clothes and said, \u201cAlas, daughter! You have brought me low; you have become my troubler! For I have uttered a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract\u201d (Judges 11:29-30, 34-5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Midrashim such as Genesis Rabbah 60:3, indicate that due to personal pride, neither the high priest Phinehas, nor Jephthah himself, would deign to go to the other in order to annul the vow. Then again, it is possible that during the period of Judges, vows were viewed more seriously than at later points in human history, and the possibility of annulment by anyone simply was not extent).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In both instances, it would appear that the fathers did not consider what might happen to their daughters-- either insisting that she marry a potentially improper suitor, or being required even to give up her life. Caleb is a more sympathetic character in the Tanach than Jephthah (see, e.g., Numbers 13:30; 14:6, 30), and it is not surprising that the former would be \u201cluckier,\u201d i.e., God would assure that he and his children experience a kinder fate than the latter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet both of these incidents emphasize the ubiquity of viewing children in general, and female offspring in particular, as the property of parents to do with as they wish. The relative carelessness with which Caleb and Jephthah dispensed their responsibilities vis-\u00e0-vis their children raises the question: shouldn\u2019t the Tanach disseminate higher-level values and eternal principles, or do we have to accept that the text contains both positive examples to be emulated, as well as negative illustrations to be avoided? Contemporary human beings, at least in the West, would look askance upon these practices, especially in light of the recent #MeToo movement, and be led to question what other aspects of the biblical lifestyle are things best relegated to the distant past.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image by: Edwin Long: Jephthah's Vow, upon his return from defeating the Ammonites to greet his daughter, 1886 \/ wiki 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Twice-Told Tale ","post_title":"A Twice-Told Tale","slug":"a-twice-told-tale","old_id":"109221","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"202","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Where we learn something about chronology, and Biblical authorship\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

When a TV show or movie becomes very popular, studios like to spin off a companion series borrowing some minor character from the main feature. Perhaps Hollywood got the idea from Joshua chapter 15. Chapter 15 begins the rather dry section of the Book of Joshua that demarcates the various boundaries of the different tribes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Embedded in chapter 15 is a spinoff preview of the first chapter of the next book- Judges. Caleb reappeared in chapter 14 requesting Joshua fulfill Moses\u2019 promise to give him Hebron. At the end of chapter 15 the text tells the story of Caleb\u2019s conquest of Hebron and his promise to Othniel to give him his daughter as a wife if he can help complete the conquest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This story appears almost verbatim in Judges. Is this story repeated here or is it repeated there? Rashi explains that this whole story only happened after Joshua died. The book of Judges notes that Hebron was not captured during Joshua\u2019s lifetime. It is listed here because it is related to Judah\u2019\u2019s conquests and perhaps also to the previous chapter discussing Caleb\u2019s request.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim has the opposite opinion. He explains that this story did happen during Joshua\u2019s lifetime. The story is repeated in the book of Judges because Caleb was the leader of the tribe of Judah, and so it fits with the theme of the post-Joshua \u201cbalkanization\u201d of the Israelites. The Talmud in Bava Batra 15a declares that Joshua wrote the book of Joshua. There is a dispute about the end of the book, though, as it mentions that Joshua dies (just like with Moses and the report of his death at the end of the Torah).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How could Joshua write about his own death? The answer is that Joshua wrote the whole book except for the very end. The Talmud does not say anything about the Caleb story. Therefore, the Talmud must believe that Joshua wrote the story of Caleb. Based on the structure of Judges, it could make sense that this story happened in Joshua. The Book of Ruth is another example of a story that takes place during the period of the Judges that is also not contained in the book. Judges is a hodgepodge of various stories about leaders in various tribes. The fact that one of these stories is taken from another book is not odd.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69677,"alt":"","title":"jer9-bible","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible.jpg","width":2048,"height":1362,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-1024x681.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":681,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1022,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1362,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-1200x798.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":798,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-632x420.jpg","home_baner-width":632,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Twice-Told Tale","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Where we learn something about chronology, and Biblical authorship","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69677,"alt":"","title":"jer9-bible","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible.jpg","width":2048,"height":1362,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-1024x681.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":681,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1022,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1362,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-1200x798.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":798,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bible-632x420.jpg","home_baner-width":632,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"},{"term_id":"809","name":"Caleb","old_id":"1209"}]},{"order":4,"id":"54131","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Really Tall Tale ","post_title":"A Really Tall Tale","slug":"a-really-tall-tale","old_id":"54131","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"202","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"They might be giants...","post_main_content_content":"

In our explanation of the origins and development of the name Hebron (chapter 14), we noted that it had also been called Kiryat Arba on account of four of its previous inhabitants. In this chapter, we are provided with the additional information that three of those inhabitants, who were displaced by Caleb, were `<\/em><\/span>anaqim<\/span><\/em>, named Ahiman, Sheshay, and Talmay (v. 14). Are `<\/em><\/span>anaqim<\/span><\/em> \u201cgiants\u201d as almost universally presumed, and can we ascertain what that meant objectively?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If I ask you to name a giant in the Bible, you would almost certainly answer: Goliath, whose extraordinary height the Bible reports as \u201csix cubits and a hand span\u201d (1 Samuel 17:3). Considering (a) according to the <\/span>Guiness Book<\/span><\/em> of Records<\/em>, <\/span>\u201cthe tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence\u201d stood 8 ft. 11.1 inches tall, and (b) that a cubit is estimated between 1\u00bd and 2 feet, a nine-foot tall Goliath is incredible, but not outside the realm of empirical possibility. The more curious fact, for our investigation, is that the Tanakh does not specifically call Goliath\u00a0`<\/em><\/span>anaq<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Note that all 18 usages of `<\/em><\/span>anaq<\/span><\/em> occur in either Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, or Judges (8 of them in Joshua alone), indicating that its use is confined to the particular era those books encompass, namely the conquest of the Land of Israel. Deriving from a poetic Hebrew word for neck, `<\/em><\/span>anaqim<\/span><\/em> may be defined as \u201clong-necked ones,\u201d although an alternate derivation would designate them as descendants of someone named `Anaq, who was their father or ancestor (v. 13-14). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Earlier in the conquest (Joshua 11), it was reported that Joshua eliminated the `<\/em><\/span>anaqim<\/span><\/em> from Hebron and the Judean hills (v. 21) and that they remained only in Gaza, Gat, and Ashkelon (v. 22), three cities of the Philistines. Arguably, the Tanakh expects us to span the gap ourselves. If Goliath was an exceptionally tall man from Gat, he was, implicitly, an `<\/em><\/span>anaq<\/span><\/em> so perhaps there was no need to stipulate it in the text.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: The Giant, by Francisco de Goya (or\u00a0Asensio Juli\u00e0), 1808 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54132,"alt":"","title":"jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","width":950,"height":1049,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-272x300.jpg","medium-width":272,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-768x848.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":848,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-927x1024.jpg","large-width":927,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","1536x1536-width":950,"1536x1536-height":1049,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","2048x2048-width":950,"2048x2048-height":1049,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","post_full_size-width":950,"post_full_size-height":1049,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-380x420.jpg","home_baner-width":380,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Really Tall Tale","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"They might be giants...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54132,"alt":"","title":"jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","width":950,"height":1049,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-272x300.jpg","medium-width":272,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-768x848.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":848,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-927x1024.jpg","large-width":927,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","1536x1536-width":950,"1536x1536-height":1049,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","2048x2048-width":950,"2048x2048-height":1049,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg","post_full_size-width":950,"post_full_size-height":1049,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-The_Giant_by_Goya-380x420.jpg","home_baner-width":380,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"404","name":"Myth","old_id":"804"},{"term_id":"575","name":"Interpretation","old_id":"975"}]},{"order":5,"id":"54134","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"How To Forget The Torah, And Restore It ","post_title":"How To Forget The Torah, And Restore It","slug":"how-to-forget-the-torah-and-restore-it","old_id":"54134","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":49419,"post_title":"Josh Weiner","slug":"josh-weiner","old_id":"49419","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Weiner ","description":"Rabbi Josh Weiner has worked as a social worker, tour guide and kindergarten teacher. 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I like Joshua very much, and not only because we share a name. I like him because he\u2019s not perfect. I see him as an unwilling politician, forced into the role after being the devout disciple of Moses. Maybe anachronistically, I picture him as a dreamy-eyed rabbinical student, forced to make difficult political and military decisions, trying to please the various powerful tribes, and all the time trying to stay true to God and to his own truth. Sometimes failing, to be sure, but more or less surviving - and the last chapter ended with the words \u201cAnd the land had rest from war.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now, to split up the land, and get on with the task of living a normal life, building up the model society that the generation in the desert could only dream of. But the transition from Moses to Joshua, from ideal to reality, is difficult. The Talmud (Temurah 16a) tells a fantastic story about this transition:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the days of mourning for Moses, Joshua forgot three hundred laws and was overcome by seven hundred doubts, and the people of Israel were ready to kill him\u2026 nonetheless, Othniel son of Kenaz was able to restore them through his sharp reasoning.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How did the Talmud arrive at such a conclusion? In our chapter, verses 15 to 19, we read that Caleb offers his daughter in marriage to anyone who can capture the fortified city called Kiryat Sefer - literally, \u2018the city of the book.\u2019 Othniel is able to capture the city, and metaphorically, he can take control over the book of the Torah. While Joshua is troubled with doubts, and is pained by the lack of clarity that he had in the past, Othniel realizes that the only way forward is to reinterpret the Torah and continue the process of revelation in a new and relevant way. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This clash of ideal and reality comes around again at the end of the chapter. Reading through the long list of place-names, some foreign and some familiar, we imagine the tribe of Judah building up their ideal society afresh. But in the last verse, we see that they couldn\u2019t defeat the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem. What to do? The ideal was to dispossess them. But the ideal can be reinterpreted to fit reality - \u201c<\/span>so the Judites dwell with the Jebusites in Jerusalem to this day.<\/span><\/i>\u201d (15:63) <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image by: Bracha Lavee, courtesy of the artist<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54135,"alt":"","title":"jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","width":650,"height":650,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","medium_large-width":650,"medium_large-height":650,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","large-width":650,"large-height":650,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":650,"1536x1536-height":650,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":650,"2048x2048-height":650,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","post_full_size-width":650,"post_full_size-height":650,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"How To Forget The Torah, And Restore It","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And how to change dispossession to coexistence","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54135,"alt":"","title":"jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","width":650,"height":650,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","medium_large-width":650,"medium_large-height":650,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","large-width":650,"large-height":650,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":650,"1536x1536-height":650,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":650,"2048x2048-height":650,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","post_full_size-width":650,"post_full_size-height":650,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"730","name":"Learning","old_id":"1130"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"},{"term_id":"866","name":"Co-existence","old_id":"1266"}]},{"order":6,"id":"54137","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Akhsa, Unsung Heroine of Israel ","post_title":"Akhsa, Unsung Heroine Of Israel","slug":"akhsa-unsung-heroine-of-israel","old_id":"54137","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":53309,"post_title":"Michael Hattin","slug":"michael-hattin","old_id":"53309","first_name":"Michael ","last_name":"Hattin ","description":"Rabbi Michael Hattin teaches Tanakh at Pardes in Jerusalem and serves as the Director of the Beit Midrash for the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. He studied for rabbinic ordination at Yeshivat Har Etzion and holds a professional degree in architecture from the University of Toronto. Michael is the author of Passages: Text and Transformation in the Parasha (2012), and Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land (Koren, 2015). He lives in Alon Shevut with his wife Rivka and their five children.","short_description":"Rabbi Michael Hattin teaches Tanakh at Pardes in Jerusalem and serves as the Director of the Beit Midrash for the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":53310,"alt":"","title":"Michael Hattin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin.jpg","width":2237,"height":3362,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin.jpg","2048x2048-width":1363,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"202","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hope and determination in the face of potential despair","post_main_content_content":"

How are we to understand Akhsa, Caleb's forceful daughter who makes her point with such dynamic assurance? Her behavior recalls her own father Caleb's steadfast conviction even as it stands in critical contrast to her husband's successes on the battlefield. Confronted with the prospect of \"dry lands\" that appear barren and inhospitable, Akhsa does not lose her faith and throw up her hands in dejection. Rather, she is absolutely determined to make the best of her difficult situation, to improve upon it and to transform it into triumph. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The commentaries understood that her forceful alighting from the donkey was calculated to attract her father's attention and perhaps represented a show of entreaty. There may be an additional dimension as well: The donkey is the beast of choice for the nomadic shepherd who covers short distances. The great caravan routes that crisscrossed the region were typically covered by camel, an animal built for transporting heavy loads over long distances through inhospitable terrain, but the nomadic shepherd who did not range quite so far covered territory on foot or by his sturdy donkey. Perhaps Akhsa's forceful dismounting is meant to indicate to her startled father that she is determined to leave nomadic existence behind in order embrace the overwhelming task of homesteading, of farming, and of putting down roots even in difficult territory. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

With the national project of settling the land looming large on the horizon, her inspired conduct serves as an important example for her people. How will they confront the disappointment and disillusionment bound to arise when the wilderness \"myth\" of a land flowing with milk and honey is shattered by the more sobering reality of desolate and uncultivated expanses covered by scrub and forest and sometimes strewn with rock and ruin? Will the people of Israel lose heart because of the magnitude of the task placed before them and surrender to despair? Or will they rather take up their mission enthusiastically, cognizant of the fact that the settlement of the land will be a slow and laborious process that will not be completed by them, nor by their children, nor even by their grandchildren? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

While Otniel secures a military victory over the enemy army, it is Akhsa who will win the day by settling the land. Her determined attitude serves as a profound paradigm to her people: if they can internalize her tenacity then they will achieve success in the new land, in spite of the great challenges that lie before them. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: <\/span>Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land<\/em> <\/span>(Jerusalem: Koren, 2015); <\/span>Chapter: \u201cThe Tribal Boundary of Judah\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Achsa, Guillaume Rouille (1518?-1589) - \"Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum\" \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54138,"alt":"","title":"jo15-Achsah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","width":419,"height":424,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah-296x300.jpg","medium-width":296,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","medium_large-width":419,"medium_large-height":424,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","large-width":419,"large-height":424,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","1536x1536-width":419,"1536x1536-height":424,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","2048x2048-width":419,"2048x2048-height":424,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","post_full_size-width":419,"post_full_size-height":424,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah-415x420.jpg","home_baner-width":415,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Akhsa, Unsung Heroine Of Israel","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Hope and determination in the face of potential despair","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54138,"alt":"","title":"jo15-Achsah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","width":419,"height":424,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah-296x300.jpg","medium-width":296,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","medium_large-width":419,"medium_large-height":424,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","large-width":419,"large-height":424,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","1536x1536-width":419,"1536x1536-height":424,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","2048x2048-width":419,"2048x2048-height":424,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah.jpg","post_full_size-width":419,"post_full_size-height":424,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-Achsah-415x420.jpg","home_baner-width":415,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"497","name":"Land","old_id":"897"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"854","name":"Metaphor","old_id":"1254"}]},{"order":7,"id":"54140","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"How To Capture The City Of The Book ","post_title":"How To Capture The City Of The Book","slug":"how-to-capture-the-city-of-the-book","old_id":"54140","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34235,"post_title":"Marc Gitler","slug":"marc-gitler","old_id":"34235","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Gitler","description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, a recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and earned an MPA from NYU . The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. He used to work for 929 North America.\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, founder of Fast for Feast, lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34236,"alt":"","title":"Marc Gitler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","width":407,"height":407,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","medium_large-width":407,"medium_large-height":407,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","large-width":407,"large-height":407,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","1536x1536-width":407,"1536x1536-height":407,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","2048x2048-width":407,"2048x2048-height":407,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","post_full_size-width":407,"post_full_size-height":407,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","home_baner-width":407,"home_baner-height":407}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"202","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Turning a warrior into a scholar in the process \u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter contains one of the great moments inspiring the Rabbinic reimagination.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Caleb, the legendary Jewish spy, wants to drive out the inhabitants from the land given to him by God, and offers his daughter Akhsa to the man who attacks and captures Kiryat Sefer. Up to the task is Othniel son Kenaz, Caleb\u2019s half-brother. After the victory Othniel comes to greet his half-niece bride. She approaches Othniel, inducing him to request more land from her father. Caleb, wondering what is going on, turns to his daughter \u201cwhat is the matter?\u201d Displeased with the dry land of the Negev, she asks her father for springs to irrigate the arid land. Her request is granted; Caleb gives them the upper and lower Gulloth springs to irrigate the dry lands.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Rabbis reimagine the story as not about capturing a physical city, but rather about recalling 3,000 laws that were forgotten during the period of mourning for Moses. Othniel through his great powers of wisdom, reasoning and memory reconstructs these laws, thereby capturing this \u201ccity of the book.\u201d (Kiryat Sefer in Hebrew means city of the book). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Akhsa however is not pleased that her father is marrying her off to \u201cdry land,\u201d suggesting that Othniel is a Torah scholar, but has no means of supporting her financially. Her father responds by telling her that I gave you a man with both upper springs (Torah scholarship) and lower springs (financial support). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbis couldn\u2019t envision Othniel as simply a great warrior: the first of the judges, the son-in-law of Caleb, had to have been a great scholar. \u00a0They recast the story into a mold that fits their ideal form of a Jewish leader. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sadly, their narrative recasts Akhsa as a donkey (in the tale she gets off a donkey) who \u201ccries out when there is no food in her pen.\u201d Looking back on Rabbinic reimagination, I see Akhsa as a woman of great intelligence, foresight, and gumption. She does not blindly agree to her father\u2019s dream. She intervenes, ensuring that she and her future children would not be confined to a life of poverty. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54143,"alt":"","title":"jo15-sword-and-scroll","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","width":263,"height":474,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll-166x300.png","medium-width":166,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","medium_large-width":263,"medium_large-height":474,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","large-width":263,"large-height":474,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","1536x1536-width":263,"1536x1536-height":474,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","2048x2048-width":263,"2048x2048-height":474,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","post_full_size-width":263,"post_full_size-height":474,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll-233x420.png","home_baner-width":233,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"How To Capture The City Of The Book","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Turning a warrior into a scholar in the process \u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54143,"alt":"","title":"jo15-sword-and-scroll","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","width":263,"height":474,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll-166x300.png","medium-width":166,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","medium_large-width":263,"medium_large-height":474,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","large-width":263,"large-height":474,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","1536x1536-width":263,"1536x1536-height":474,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","2048x2048-width":263,"2048x2048-height":474,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll.png","post_full_size-width":263,"post_full_size-height":474,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo15-sword-and-scroll-233x420.png","home_baner-width":233,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"497","name":"Land","old_id":"897"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"730","name":"Learning","old_id":"1130"}]},{"order":8,"id":"109250","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-15","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-15","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-15","old_id":"109250","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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\u201cWhy Jerusalem?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/a> by Racheli Shafier: Explore what is unique about this holy city.<\/span><\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Joshua 15","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"54146","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Chapter 15 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Chapter 15","slug":"points-to-ponder-chapter-15","old_id":"54146","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"202","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Size matters<\/span><\/i>. The land allotment of Judah is bigger than all the other portions this side of the Jordan combined. If we add to the equation here the fact that it also appears first on the list, we get the expected status of the tribe of Judah in the books ahead\u2026<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. A trophy worthy of a fairy tale<\/span><\/i>. But apparently also of the Bible: Akhsa (verse 16) is not the only woman in the Tanakh who is promised to whoever shall prove himself in battle. In 1 Samuel, chapters 17 and 18 there are similar prizes offered.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Remember the name<\/span><\/i>: Othniel the Kenizzite will return in a big way, in only 13 chapters (Judges chapter 3). Worth waiting for!<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. A city and its \u2018burbs. The phrase \u201ccities and their villages, <\/span>chatzreihem<\/span><\/i>\u201d that recurs in this chapter refers to the urban center and the surrounding towns and hamlets.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. The Lowland rules. The leading bloc of settlement in Judah is the <\/span>shefelah <\/span><\/i>of <\/span>Yehudah<\/span><\/i>, which has three districts and 39 cities and their surrounding villages.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Chapter 15","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"202","date":"20260608","wall_id":"202"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/53816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}