I had the pleasure of attending the Yeshiva University graduation ceremony this week at Madison Square Garden. My heart swelled with Nachas as our grandson, Yonatan Mehlman, was honored by being selected as the Valedictorian of Yeshiva University, class of 2017.
While I was listening to the different speakers, it was interesting to note that the word graduation was not used, but rather the word commencement, which I found to be most insightful.
For all the graduates, I sense, it is a commencement, as the word indicates. It is truly a beginning and a start to greater achievements for future life endeavors.
I recall the words of Albert Einstein, "There are seven sins in the world: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice and Politics without principle. I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will really be happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. We think too much. We feel too little. More than machines, we need humanity."
Einstein said it brilliantly and was right on target in expressing the needs of our country in these tumultuous and uncertain times which we, unfortunately, live in. These are times that we must put our trust in the hands of our young men and women who have great vision for a brighter future, encapsulating a life filled with optimism and feelings for a more united humanity under the rubric of a
G-Dly ordained society.
Our Torah oriented way of life stresses two very important themes that can, hopefully, ensure a more positive future for every new graduate - they are Emunah and Emet, Truth and Faith. Where Emunah signifies the eternal and Emet the ephemeral, there is a need to unite the divine with the humane, and often, to unite the ancient with the modern, bringing about a world of compassion, truth and authenticity.
The qualifying statement of the Torah, תמים תהיה אם הי אלוקיך,'You must be wholehearted with G-D', teaches us to live a life in which we bring together Truth and Faith. They are united with a strong belief in man's potential to recognize that we are of the world of each other and possess the power to achieve greatness in a world of peace and renewal.
As we begin reading ספר במדבר, let us realize that the מדבר experience that Hashem insisted upon was not that we were to remain in a מדבר of desolation, but rather to use that ominous experience to transform the Jewish People into an Am Kadosh. To achieve this goal Hashem expects us to exhibit a greater sense of brotherly love and compassion for one another.
This was evident as we stood at Har Sinai to receive the Torah: ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר, כאיש אחד בלב אחד. Gloriously, at that awesome moment in Jewish History, we were one in heart and one in action. How Messianic this would be if we could achieve this goal in our day and age, thereby, writing a new chapter in Jewish History glorifying the Jewish People in an everlasting way.
The graduates of today must understand that the future is in their hands and we are relying upon them to preserve it well.
Congratulations to all our graduates.
שבת שלום ומבורך
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