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The 17th of Tammuz until the 9th of Av is a period known as the Three Weeks — a time of tragedy for the Jewish people, culminating on the 9th of Av, the day both our Holy Temples were destroyed.

These two days correspond to events that happened to Am Yisrael in the desert. The 17th of Tammuz, 40 days after the giving of the Torah on Shavuos, was the day Moshe was to come down from Heaven with the luchos (tablets). Instead, we made a golden calf and danced around it, and Moshe broke the luchos. Hashem told us not to make an image and worship it, but we did not obey His command. After much prayer and repentance, Hashem forgave Am Yisrael.

The 9th of Av marks a different kind of sin. We were on the brink of entering Eretz Yisrael. We wanted to send spies to see the land and its people and to understand how to conquer the Good Land that Hashem had promised us. The spies walked around the land for 40 days and brought back their report. It was a fertile land that devours its inhabitants — there were giants just like the freakishly large fruit they brought back. Instead of seeing the good, they saw the bad, and we cried. Hashem would forgive us, but only after all those of that generation died in the desert, corresponding to the 40 days they spied out the land — a day for a year.

Our Rabbis tell us that the sin of the Golden Calf represents a replay of the Original Sin of Adam when he ate from the tree that Hashem forbade him to eat from. Hashem told him not to eat from it, and he did. Hashem told us not to worship an idol, and we did.

The question is — if the Golden Calf is connected to the Sin of Adam HaRishon, and the 17th of Tammuz (the day we made the Calf) is related to the 9th of Av through the period called the Three Weeks, is there a connection between the Sin of the Spies and the Sin of Adam?

Revisiting the Episode

When Hashem made Adam, He warned him not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and that on the day he eats from it, he will surely die. Hashem then said that it's not good for Adam to be alone and He wanted to make him a helpmate.

The Serpent found an opportune time when Chava was alone. He came and convinced Chava that she should eat from the Tree. She did — and she also gave it to Adam, and he ate.

After they ate, their eyes were opened and they realized that they were naked. They found some leaves to cover themselves. They heard Hashem in the Garden and they hid. Hashem said, "Where are you?" Adam answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid." Then Hashem asked, "Who told you that you are naked? Did you eat from the Tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

The obvious question is, why did Adam play dumb? "Where are you?" Is it conceivable that Hashem doesn't know where he is? "Did you eat from the Tree?" Hashem didn't know? Of course, He knew. But He wanted Adam to repent. If Adam had repented and said, "I sinned," our Rabbis tell us he would have been forgiven, as if the sin never happened. "Enjoy your stay in Gan Eden."

But instead, he said something else. "The wife that you gave me gave me from the Tree and I ate." The depth of what he said is beyond this discussion, but Rashi explains there, "Here he showed his ingratitude." Hashem had given Adam a helpmate, and he blamed her (and maybe, indirectly, Hashem) for his mistake.

The Two Primordial Sins

It emerges from this that there are two primordial sins. First, transgressing the commandment of Hashem, represented by the eating from the Tree of Knowledge. The second is ingratitude, represented by Adam's response — he failed to see the good and be thankful for the situation.

Back to the question of a connection between the Sin of the Spies and the Sin of Adam: we were told we were going into a "Good Land," and we sent spies to look. But their report came back with disappointing results. Instead of seeing the positive and trusting in Hashem, they complained and exhibited that dreaded trait, ingratitude.

"Why is the L-RD taking us to that land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be carried off! It would be better for us to go back to Egypt!"

After taking them out of Egypt and everything that meant, they would consider going back? Ingratitude and failing to recognize the good sealed the fate of the Generation of the Desert, just as it did with Adam.

The Severity of Ingratitude

In conclusion, this period of the Three Weeks is connected to the Original Sin of Adam. The Sin of the Calf represents transgressing Hashem's command, which happened on the 17th of Tammuz. The Sin of the Spies on the 9th of Av represents ingratitude. Transgressing the command and ingratitude are the two basic sins in the Creation.

From these two days, we can also gauge the relative severity of these two sins. Transgressing the command of Hashem is represented by the 17th of Tammuz — it is a fast day. We fast from the morning and say special supplications. But the day of the 9th of Av, representing ingratitude, is on a different level. We fast for 24 hours starting the previous afternoon. We all follow the customs of those who have lost a close relative. We are all mourners. The pain of this sin is so deep and great.

The differences between the punishments are alluded to in the Torah. Hashem told Adam that when he eats from the Tree, he will die (become mortal), but He doesn't tell Adam he's going to live a hard life or that he's going to have to leave the Garden of Eden. Where did those punishments come from? Perhaps our experiences in the desert can help explain. After the Sin of the Calf, we were now subject to death again — we became mortal. But we were still able to have the Mishkan and we were preparing to enter Eretz Yisrael. The Sin of the Spies represents the pain and suffering of Exile. Just as we were exiled from Eretz Yisrael for this sin, perhaps we were exiled from the Garden to live a life of hardship also for this sin.

Thus, we see that while the pain of transgression is serious and severe, it is overshadowed by the pain caused by ingratitude. We want to avoid all sin, but we must be especially careful of the sin of ingratitude.

These two primordial sins existed even before Adam. On the Third Day, Hashem told the Earth to bring forth "fruit trees bearing fruit," and instead, it brought forth "trees bearing fruit." The Earth did not follow Hashem's command, similar to the act of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. On the Fourth Day, Hashem made "two great luminaries," then "a big one and a little one." The Midrash explains that the Moon complained that two kings cannot share one crown. Then Hashem told the Moon to make herself smaller. This complaining was similar to the aspect of ingratitude, failing to see and acknowledge the good in each situation.