Parshas Pinchas – Can You Trust a Lottery?

[Menachem Mendel Gurary]

Dear Friends,

Please enjoy this week's Dvar Torah:

Can You Trust a Lottery?

Why did Yehoshua plead with Achan, "Please don't cast doubt on the lots"?

Discover the deeper meaning of the goral and its powerful connection to the Jewish soul, teshuvah, and Moshiach.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos!

Rabbi Mendel Gurary
Saranac Synagogue – Cong. Achei Tmimim 

Dvar Torah – 18 Tammuz, Parshas Pinchas 5786

Please Don't Cast Doubt on the Lots..

Rabbi Mendel Gurary

Can you trust a lottery?

Most of us think of a lottery as pure chance. Yet in this week's Parshah, the division of Eretz Yisrael—the inheritance of every Jew—was determined through a goral, a lottery. Even more surprising, Yehoshua begged Achan not to undermine the credibility of the lots. Why was this so important?

In this week's Torah portion, the Torah describes how Eretz Yisrael was to be divided among the tribes:

"אַךְ בְּגוֹרָל יֵחָלֵק אֶת הָאָרֶץ" – "The land shall be divided by lot."

Rashi explains that the division was not based on the lot alone. It was also confirmed through the Urim VeTumim and Ruach HaKodesh.

This raises an important question: What is the significance of dividing the Land through a lottery?

The Gemara (Sanhedrin 43b) sheds light on this through the story of Achan.

After the conquest of Yericho, someone secretly took from the consecrated spoils. Hashem told Yehoshua, "Israel has sinned." Yehoshua asked, "Master of the Universe, who sinned?" Hashem replied, "Am I an informer? Cast lots and find out."

Yehoshua cast lots, and the lot fell upon Achan.

Achan challenged the result. "Are you going to execute me based only on a lottery? You and Elazar are the two greatest leaders of this generation. If I cast lots between the two of you, one of you would also be chosen. What does that prove?"

Yehoshua answered:

"Please do not cast doubt on the lots, because one day Eretz Yisrael will be divided by lot. If people lose confidence in the lottery because of you, they may challenge the future division of the Land."

Yehoshua then pleaded with Achan to confess, and Achan admitted his sin.

Two Questions

Tosafos asks a fundamental question:

The division of Eretz Yisrael did not rely solely on the lottery. It was also confirmed through the Urim VeTumim and Ruach HaKodesh. If so, why was Yehoshua so concerned that Achan might undermine the credibility of the lots?

A second question can also be asked:

Achan had committed a serious sin. Why would Yehoshua think that he would care about preserving the honor of the lottery?

The Meaning of a Goral

To answer these questions, let us first examine another Gemara.

The Gemara in Berachos tells us that before his passing, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was crying. His students asked why. He answered:

"There are two paths before me—one leading to Gan Eden and one to Gehinom—and I do not know on which path I will be led. Should I not cry?"

This is astonishing. How could Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, of whom the Gemara says that he never walked four amos without Torah and Tefillin, be uncertain about his destiny?

The Alter Rebbe explains that a goral represents something beyond logic.

A person casts lots only when reason cannot determine the outcome. By doing so, he submits the decision completely to Hashem, beyond his own understanding.

On a deeper level, the goral represents the essence of the Jewish soul—our deepest bond with Hashem that transcends intellect and emotion. It is expressed through simple faith and the willingness of a Jew to sacrifice everything for Hashem.

With this understanding, we can appreciate why Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai cried. Although he knew that his conduct throughout life had been righteous, he wondered whether he had fully revealed the deepest essence of his soul—his goral, his essential connection to Hashem.

A New Understanding of Achan

We can now return to the story of Achan.

When Yehoshua pleaded with him, "Please do not cast doubt on the lots," he was not merely defending a legal procedure.

He was reminding Achan that every Jew possesses an inner goral—a pure core that always remains connected to Hashem, no matter how far a person may have fallen.

Those words awakened Achan's deepest self. He confessed and sincerely repented.

This also explains why Hashem said, "Israel has sinned." The Gemara teaches:

"אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁחָטָא, יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא"

"Even though a Jew has sinned, he remains a Jew."

Achan's teshuvah demonstrated exactly that. Although he had sinned, he rediscovered his inner goral—his essential Jewish soul.

The Gemara even concludes that Yehoshua told him:

"You are troubled in this world, but not in the World to Come."

His sincere teshuvah earned him a share in Olam HaBa.

Aleinu - Achan

One beautiful allusion emerges from our daily prayers.

Every day we conclude Aleinu with the words:

"עַל כֵּן נְקַוֶּה..."

Notice the highlighted letters:

על כן נקוה

Together they spell עכן.

There is a tradition that Yehoshua instituted this prayer following the episode of Achan. It is therefore fitting that hidden within the words "על כן נקוה" is Achan's very name.

The message is powerful. Even someone who had fallen as far as Achan was able to uncover the goral of his soul, repent sincerely, and earn a share in the World to Come. Every day, as we say "על כן נקוה לך", we are reminded to never give up on ourselves or on another Jew. No matter how distant a person may seem, the essence of the Jewish soul always remains connected to Hashem and can always be awakened through teshuvah.

This idea beautifully complements the prayer itself, which expresses our hope for the ultimate redemption, when the inner goral of every Jew will be fully revealed.

Returning to Tosafos' Question

We still need to answer Tosafos.

The Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash explain that Yehoshua was not referring primarily to the original division of Eretz Yisrael.

Rather, he was alluding to the future division of the Land in the days of Moshiach, when Hashem Himself will distribute the portions through a goral, as described in the Gemara (Bava Basra 122a):

"The Holy One, blessed be He, will personally distribute their portions."

The connection between goral and Moshiach is also found in the book of Daniel, as the Rebbe points out:

"וְאַתָּה תַעֲמֹד לְגוֹרָלְךָ לְקֵץ הַיָּמִין"

"But you shall arise to your lot at the end of days."

In the era of Moshiach, the deepest essence of every Jewish soul—the level of goral—will be openly revealed.

The way to prepare ourselves for that revelation is by strengthening our emunah, our unwavering faith, and our commitment to Hashem that goes beyond logic and understanding.

Good Shabbos!

Rabbi Mendel Gurary