Shifra's Thoughts
Here we go again with another guest blog from Shifra. Enjoy! And, if you would like to guest-post here, please write it up and send it to me by email.

I was helping my daughter study for a navi test last night - Yehoshua perek 7.
It's the part where Achan gets stoned to death for stealing from the spoils of war. After the stoning they leave him there (dead) buried in a pile of stones, and then (and I don't have a navi with me here at work so excuse the paraphrase) god's anger is appeased and bnei yisroel goes back to winning in battle.

It's very different reading this navi as a (semi) enlightened adult. I tried to watch for my daughter’s reaction as we read through the psukim to see if she was shocked or upset but she seemed very blase about it. I think I was the same way when I leaned this navi as a child- God says “kill this man” and you do it, period. Still, I kept thinking- How barbaric! Stoning a man to appease God?! I couldn't get my head around it. Rashi says he was a repeat offender, and the navi clearly states that Yehoshua warned them all in the name of God, but still I don’t feel any better.

Makes me think about Dovbear’s post regarding post messianic living- is this what we have to look forward to? Does God want our blood for our sins? Maybe I’m feeling very literal/heretical today but this is not working for me. Anyone want to offer another take on this?