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From the Rabbi:
When was the last time you looked at your wedding pictures? Most of us (those who are married; soon by the rest of us) are too busy actually being married to really spend a lot of time and energy remembering getting married. Maybe on our anniversary, or when we need to reconnect to the initial love and attraction that drew us together. Well, it's Valentine's day this weekend, so maybe it's an opportune moment to pull out the wedding album and enjoy that special moment all over again.
Every year when we read Parshat Yitro that's essentially what we're doing. Looking back at that special moment at Mt. Sinai when Am Yisrael was betrothed by the giving of the Ring of Torah and we became Hashem's wife. Our anniversary is on Shavuot, but perhaps our annual return to that moment of Love is the spiritual root of Valentine's day.
Yet the matrimonial bond between us and Hashem is hardly something which we let remain on the back burner. Every time we make a Bracha over a mitzvah we use the familiar line Asher Kidshanu B'mitzvotav v'Tzivanu... "who sanctified us with His commandments and instructed us..." We often think about this as a kind of technical Holiness. By us doing What God commanded it transforms us into Holier, more Godly people. That's certainly true, Mitzvah observance does refine us, but it's not the only purpose of mitzvot. There's a whole relationship with Hashem that the Mitzvot are meant to facilitate. Accordingly "sanctified" is also not the only meaning of the phrase Asher Kidshanu. Remember, the halachic word for the marriage pact is Kidushin, so we could also translate Asher Kidshanu as 'for marrying us'.
Like any marriage, our spousal relationship with Hashem carries with it commitments and responsibilities. And, just like in human marriage, sometimes the underlying Love can get eclipsed by the commitments and responsibilities, and it can feel like that's all there is. An emotional winter. That's when it's time to take out the wedding album and re-dis-cover the Love which we really feel towards one another. So, we read Parshat Yitro every year at Tu B'shvat. And Valentine's Day.
Part of the sap flowing back into The Tree of Life is the feeling of love flowing back into our doing of mitzvot and a rekindling of our romance with Hashem. So, Happy Valentines Day. May every mitzvah feel like chocolate and roses.
Shabbat Shalom,
Shlomo
Purim is coming!! March 13 &14. Being a Friday, expect a Purim experience that will flow into Shabbat. Stay tuned for megillah reading times, KOT Mishloach-Manot and Purim Seudah information.
Classes This Week
- Shabbat 4:45 pm before Mincha
- Sunday at 7:00 PM - KOT Beit Midrash
- Tuesday at 12:30 PM - Parsha Conversations at Cheryl's office
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