If you had the attention of 100 million people, for a full 30 seconds, what would you say? What message would you try to convey?
Sunday's Super Bowl was the most-watched television event in U.S. history, with 111.5 million viewers. Companies were willing to pay $4 million to get their attention!
So what was their message?
The Budweiser "Puppy Love" ad won by a landslide.
Growing up in South Africa, we always had dogs. We had a big house with a huge garden and we kept them mostly for protection against burglars. My favorite dog, Ringo, was a German shepherd who was fiercely loyal and highly intelligent. We used to joke that he must have a Jewish soul because he would sit for hours listening to us sing at the Shabbat table, and his favorite food was cholent! It was easy to love Ringo. He slept in our house and was an all-around good dog.
Because of my love of dogs, and Ringo in particular, I completely understood why "Puppy Love" was the most popular Super Bowl commercial.
Puppies represent unconditional love. I often meet people who tell me they can't get along with their spouse but their puppy is a true friend who loves them unconditionally. I get it. Ringo did that for me. He never argued or criticized or yelled or cursed. Whether I was in a good mood, or a lousy one, he was always there, always attentive, accepting and loving.
This week's parshah also discusses unconditional love. Just not the puppy type.
When Moses descends from Mount Sinai, he sees the Jewish people worshipping the golden calf. They have betrayed G-d, one of the worst things they could possibly do. Just 40 days earlier they had entered into a marriage-like relationship with G-d, and already they're cheating?!
G-d wanted to destroy the Jewish people and begin a new nation from Moses. But Moses declines. He said, "G-d, if you destroy them, wipe my name from Your Torah." The most precious thing in his life was the Torah, but he was ready to give it up for the people he had led from Egypt.
Ultimately, G-d listened and forgave the Jewish people.
But there remains one parshah which does not contain Moses's name - Tetzaveh, this week's Torah portion. Because he said, "If you destroy them, erase me from Your Torah," G-d removed his name from this one parshah, which, interestingly, is usually read around the time of his yahrtzeit.
This is a clear illustration of Moses's essence: Unconditional love for his people.
Moses's love for the Jewish people was entirely different from puppy love. Dogs love us because they don't really know us. They don't know our weaknesses, our foibles. But Moses knew the Jewish people intimately. He knew what a terrible sin they'd committed. He knew they'd been complaining virtually non-stop since leaving Egypt. But he was able to see past that. He was able to hold onto their purity and goodness and love them unconditionally.
Moses saw the Jewish people in their darkest moments, when they embraced idolatry and rejected G-d. In fact, the golden calf was to replace not only G-d, but Moses as well. And yet, still, he did not abandon them. He loved them deeply, unconditionally, to the point of ultimate self-sacrifice.
Let's learn from Moses and take that puppy love to a new level - unconditional love, for our family and friends.