Over the past few weeks we have celebrated many a graduation, from kindergarten to elementary school and from high school to college. In addition to the age difference between those graduating, there is a huge difference between graduating from college and graduating from lower level school. Going to college is optional, so when a young adult finishes their schooling, it is something to celebrate. However, one must ask (purely from an intellectual perspective): What is the big deal of finishing kindergarten, 8th grade, or 12th grade? Doesn’t that happen on its own, automatically? What else was that kid going to do–drop out?
This question is deeper than you may think. It is actually addressed in this week’s Torah portion, which discusses the Menorah. The instruction to craft the Menorah is the same as all other components of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. G-d gives very detailed instructions as to exactly how He wants every item to look. However, when it comes to the Menorah, Moses is confounded about how to actually make it, since there is one detail that G-d throws in there that makes it improbable to do: that “it should be made from one piece of gold.” Now, we all know that a Menorah has six branches and a middle candle (the Shamash) in addition to the legs. Creating all the intrinsic details (flowers, cups, balls, etc.) is a challenge in its own right for a talented goldsmith to form. How in the world can someone make it out of one piece of gold?
G-d tells Moses: No problem; throw the gold into the fire, and I will form it for you. Moses does as he is told and out comes a Menorah.
Yet, until Aaron kindles the Menorah, the Menorah is not considered complete! One may ask, why? What is Aaron contributing? The heavy lifting was done by G-d himself. Just adding some oil and a wick? Anyone can do that. Or to put it another way, it would “happen anyway.” What else happens with a Menorah once it is completed if not to be kindled? Why the big “celebration” once it was lit, a celebration so great that we are told it was Aaron’s act that brought G-d’s presence into the Tabernacle?
From here we see that nothing “just happens;” even G-d’s act is related to our own. G-d didn’t just throw some gold into a fire, Moses did. G-d formed the gold that Moses threw in the fire. And Aaron kindled the Menorah. It was a partnership, Moses, Aaron, and G-d.
It is the same with graduation. It may be true that a little child graduating from preschool is not the same as a young adult graduating from college, when you compare the “free choice” involved in the process. However, if you think about the great effort the child put into learning, the participation of the teachers and parents into the child’s intellectual growth, and the effort that the little kid put into themselves to turn into a little “mensch,” it is no small feat. The little kid also deserves a graduation. Each level of success deserves a party according to its achievement—preschool, 8th grade, 12th grade, college, etc.
Mazel Tov to all graduates!