There was a big story in the news this week about how the rich were scheming in illegal ways to get their children admitted into the top universities by bribing sports coaches, administrators, SAT officials, etc.
Let the legal authorities deal with the legalities of the case. My concern is with the kids. What is the message that they received from their parents? What was the “moral education” that they received? Any “higher” education that they will get at any of these top “VIP” schools has been undermined by their parents’ lack of moral behavior – that they were being taught, and definitely learned. Why bother to invest all this money in an education that will not produce a mensch?
This week we start a new book of the Torah, the third book, and many might say, the most boring of the Five Books of Moses, because it lacks the drama of creation, the turmoil of the Jews in Egypt, the challenges to Moses that occur in the Sinai desert, etc. What is discussed in the book of Vayikra, the book of Leviticus, is sacrifices. Sacrifice is a difficult concept for many to relate to. Why did G-d want to have an animal burnt on the altar? What kind of barbaric behavior was that, let alone think that we will do that again one day with the coming of Moshiach? Why should we even spend time learning about it over and over again every year? Let us just skip book number three.
Well, my friends, we must answer this question with another question. What makes sacrifice even more interesting is that the Torah says the sacrifices produced a “pleasing” aroma for G-d! Really? It is one thing to say that G-d gets pleasure from watching us do what he wants – even if it has no meaning to us, whatsoever. But to say that G-d enjoys animal sacrifices and that it is “pleasing” to G-d is ludicrous! What is that supposed to mean?!
The answer is that we are missing the point; we are putting the emphasis in the wrong place. G-d knows how uncomfortable we are bringing an animal as a sacrifice. No one wants to do it, including G-d. So why does He ask it of us? G-d wants to see if we can reach deep into ourselves, find that “animal” within us and make a mensch out of it. Can we “sacrifice” our ego on the altar? Can we put our need to send our children to a “VIP” school aside if they cannot earn admission on their own merits? If we can, then even our “animal” is a pleasing smell to G-d. We don’t need to offer gold and silver. Being rich and famous is useless to G-d if each one of us is not a mensch. Better to be a pleasant-smelling “animal,” a humble mensch, than a stinky cheater.
When we teach our children moral intelligence, it is a pleasing aroma to G-d. The greatest university is right in our own home. That is, if we are not afraid to say the “G” word. When we talk about G-d, when we say blessings on our food, when we elevate the “animal within us” to a higher level and transform ourselves – and those around us – each to become a mensch, we create a pleasant aroma for G-d.