The Patriots were on offense, they were losing to the Steelers by two touchdowns and there was only one minute left.
Donny, the team captain, was telling the team the plan and how he wanted Ely to catch the ball and run for a touchdown. “Why should we bother?” Ely asked.
“Because the game’s not over yet. OK, they are way ahead. But that doesn’t mean we can’t catch up,” Donny said. “One thing’s for sure, though. If we don’t try, then we will definitely lose.”
Ely shrugged his shoulders, walked to the field and said, “Look, you’re the captain. If you tell me to catch the ball, I will. But I still think we’re wasting our time.”
Ely took his position. “Thought you got lost on the way,” teased one of the Steelers.
“Shut up!” Ely called back to him.
As the ball came toward him, Ely surprised everyone, especially himself, and caught the ball and ran for the touchdown.
Now it was the Steelers’ ball and Ely intercepted the ball and scored a touchdown.
The score was equal with 20 seconds left. As the Patriots ran out to take the field, Donny noticed Ely was now all charged up with energy.
“Well, do you feel like it was worth playing after all?” he asked, with a wink. Ely smiled and said, “Donny, whether we win or lose this game, I feel like you gave me a big victory in learning how to play the game.”
Connection to the parsha:
In this week’s parsha, Moshe asks Hashem to let him come into Israel with the rest of the Jewish people. Hashem had already told him that he wouldn’t be allowed into the land. But Moshe doesn’t give up. He just keeps on praying and praying to be able to come in. Moshe knows that Hashem is very merciful and might still let him in. The Torah teaches us never to give up. Even when things look hopeless, we should still try to do all we can.
Questions for the week:
1. Do you ever give up?
2. What can you do to help you not give up?
3. Do you feel good when you don’t give up?
4. Who do you think won?
Challenge for the week:
Try not to give up because if you do you’ll never know what could’ve happened.
Maayan Singer is a rising fourth grader who just moved to Israel from Teaneck. She loves to find lessons in the Torah and share them with the world.
