NACH 01 – Yehoshua – Fall of Yericho – Yair Ben Menashe – Battle of Ai – Yehoshua Stills the Sun – Battle of Givon – Praying at the Grave of a Tzaddik – Speaker: Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld zal.
00:00 – The Battle of Yericho. The unusual faith of Rachav in protecting the People of Israel shows how a person who comes from the lowest depths can rise to the highest spiritual levels.
*04:20 – “There’s no such thing as a person having passed the point of no return.” – Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld zal.
05:50 – Why didn’t Yehoshua have any sons? This was a punishment for having stated a Torah law in front of his teacher, Moshe Rabbeinu. The Zohar HaKodesh, however, says that Yehoshua did not sin because his intentions were pure.
06:54 – During the battle against the kingdom of Ai, a Jewish warrior was killed. Yair ben Menashe, the only casualty, was considered the equivalent of 36 members of the Sanhedrin. HaShem had assured Israel they would be completely victorious, so Moshe Rabbeinu asked HaShem about the meaning of this loss.
10:00 – HaShem commanded a lottery to be held to reveal the person who robbed spoils from the city of Yericho.
*10:46 – “No matter how bad his behavior, a Jew still retains the holy title of Jew.” – Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld zal.
10:50 – A lottery is arranged because HaShem refused to speak Loshon Hara (evil report) about a Jew. The culprit – Achan – is found and he confesses. The power of Viduy – confession.
14:19 – The strategy against the city of Ai that led to victory was used by the Israeli army in the war of 1967.
*15:05 – How HaShem wages war.
*17:07 – NOTE about the importance of establishing and upholding effective judicial system to combat evil. Judges who are too liberal and show mercy when it’s not warranted are themselves criminal.
19:43 – The deception of the inhabitants of Givon in offering a false treaty of peace.
24:00 – Yehoshua commands the sun to silence itself and thereby causes time to stand still during the battle against Givon. The Torah teaches that the sun and all other elemens in the universe arei in motion while the earth is stationary. Everything in the universe, even natural objects that seem inanimate, has a consciousness of HaShem.
*30:53 – Chevron was given to Calev ben Yefunah for his faith in the power of prayer at the grave sites of tzaddikim.
32:44 – The Torah forbids seeking help from the dead, but Tzaddikim are considered alive even after their passing. When we stand at the grave site of a tzaddik we are aligning ourselves with his merit while praying only to HaShem.
36:45 – The parting legacy of Yehoshua.
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