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For the last few months, I have had a chavruta with Dena where we learned sefer Yehoshua, completing the sefer this past week. One of the themes that came up over and over again was the idea of “Chazak Ve’Ematz,” being strong and courageous. One of the questions that we discussed was why this phrase is repeated so many times.

At the very beginning of perek aleph, Hashem tells Yehoshua that his servant Moshe has died and now Yehoshua needs to “get up and cross the Jordan river with the entire nation to the land which Hashem is giving them.” It comes across as Yehoshua is an unwanted second choice. Therefore, Hashem attempts to embolden Yehoshua three times within the first perek by telling him to be strong and courageous.

Each of these three times comes with a different reason that Yehoshua needs to be strong and courageous. The first is because Yehoshua is taking Bnai Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael and he needs to set an example to Bnai Yisrael that even though they are going into war with all the nations of Israel that they need to have faith in themselves that they can win. The second time, Yehoshua is commanded to be strong and courageous and follow the Torah. The third time, Yehoshua is told to be Chazak ve’ematz because Hashem is with him.

However, in the Torah, Yehoshua is mentioned and is portrayed as a very brave persona with many strong leadership qualities. One of these mentions is in regards to the War with Amalek, when the nation of Amalek attacked Bnai Yisrael right after we left Egypt. Moshe goes to Yehoshua, who has no previous military experience, and asks Yehoshua to be the leading general in the war. Yehoshua without a moment’s hesitation agrees and leads Bnai Yisrael into battle, defeating Amalek. Another story of Yehoshua’s courage in the Torah is in the story of the Meraglim. Yehoshua was among the 12 spies sent by Moshe to scout out the land of Israel. When they returned, 10 of the spies said that the land is flowing with milk and honey, but we can’t beat the people in war because they are giants. By contrast, Yehoshua and Calev ben Yefuneh ignore the peer pressure and defend the land, saying that it is a good land and Hashem will help us take over the land.

In these two stories, Yehoshua exemplifies courage and resoluteness in his beliefs. So why tell Yehoshua to be brave? Why does Hashem tell Moshe 39 years before Yehoshua was to take over for Moshe to empower and embolden Yehoshua? The answer is to serve as a reminder that Hashem is always there to protect Yehoshua and he will always help him. It’s a way of making sure Yehoshua’s success doesn’t go to his head. Yes, he needs to be strong and courageous because he is setting an example for Am Yisrael to emulate, but mostly he needs to be resolute in knowing God is behind his success and therefore even more so he needs to keep the Torah.