This week’s parsha reviews the story of the Meraglim, the Spies. It was because of their negative report of Eretz Yisrael that the Jews had to walk in the desert for forty years and 600,000 men died. Was it really so terrible what the Meraglim did that deserved such a punishment?

This past week, my oldest son and I were playing an old game my parents had saved from my childhood years called Dungeon. Basically, the board is a bunch of rooms which each contain a monster card. Players enter the rooms and fight the monsters by rolling the dice. Higher rolls usually beat the monsters and reward the player with a gold treasure worth anywhere from 500 gold pieces to 10,000. Lower rolls, though, make the monster defeat the player, and depending on how low the roll is, the player usually loses gold treasures and/or loses a turn. The goal of the game is to get 20,000 gold pieces and to return to the Start area. So, a few nights ago, I was having an excellent game. I had over 20,000 gold pieces and was on my way back to Start. My son, on the other hand, was far behind me when he finally got his 20,000 gold pieces. I was one space away from Start (and winning the game), while my son was about 30 or 40 spaces away from Start – it was clear I was going to win. On his last turn before I would win, my son decided to enter a room and fight a monster. He rolled a three, which meant the monster defeated him pretty badly. He needed to drop half of his treasures and go back to Start. I looked at his treasures and he had six of them – but three of them equaled 20,000 gold pieces, so he dropped the other three. Then, it struck me. He was back on Start with 20,000 gold pieces. Although the game seemed hopeless, he had won the game!

Rabi Akiva was once walking with three other Sages in Yerushaliyim after the Temple was destroyed. Suddenly, they saw a fox run around in the ruins of the Temple and in the place of the Holy of Holies. The three Sages began crying but Rabi Akiva began laughing. They asked him why he laughed and he responded because now that he saw the ruins in the worst moment, he knew the comfort and rebuilding would come. I was listening to class given by the North Miami Beach Rosh Kollel, Rav Schmelczer, and he explained why Rabi Akiva was so happy. Rabi Akiva knew that when the moment everything seemed hopeless, the redemption is right around the corner. Nothing is ever totally hopeless.

The Meraglim committed a terrible sin: they made the Jews lose hope. They basically told the Jews they would be destroyed if they tried to go into Eretz Yisrael. We are NEVER allowed to lose hope. It is a sin to give up and this is why the Meraglim and the Jews in the desert suffered such a bad punishment. My son had every reason to give up – neither of us saw a possible way he could win, but then everything changed because of losing a battle against a monster. This is what Rabi Akiva knew and taught his friends. Unfortuantely, the Meraglim did not know this. But we can learn something from their behavior and remember not to ever give up.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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