MARRIAGE AND LOVE

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well.

Mazal Tov to Reuven for your birthday next week. Wishing you much continued success Reuven with good health.

Mazal Tov Perry on your birthday next week. Long time no see. We need more simchos in the Family to get together. Have a great year Perry!

Mazal Tov to Adrian Sacks in Melbourne who also has a birthday next week. Hope this message reaches you Adrian! Australia is so far away.

And next week is also the yohrtzeit of Alden AH, who is Kerry Lee's father and the past husband of Froma (and Adrian's brother). Wishing you all long life and only simchos in the future!

In this weeks Sedra Chaye Sarah, we learn about the MARRIAGE AND LOVE between Yitzchak and Rivkah.

And it was interesting to see a deeper meaning of Marriage and love, explained in Tanya this week.

The Tanya from the end of last week, and this week (Letter 29) has been speaking of the deeper meaning of 'Eishes Chayil.('A woman of valor is the crown of her husband.' - Book of Proverbs)

This verse is a metaphor for Torah ie The husband is referring to the Written Torah (Chumash), the wife is referring to the Oral Torah (Gemorra), and the Crown refers to the Halachot (Laws of Torah).

In another verse (Ecclesiastes 9:9), Torah is also likened to a wife, where it says 'See to live your life with the woman whom you love.'

So the Alte Rebbe goes on to explain why Halachot are called the Crown, and 'Whoever studies halachot (Laws) is assured of a share in Olam Haba- the World-to Come)' - why just Halachot?

Rabbi Yitzchak Luria stated that the soul of every Jew needs to be reincarnated many times until he will fulfil all 613 commandments of the Torah in all 3 GARMENTS OF THOUGHT, SPEECH, AND DEED.

The light of Hashem is pleasant and sweet and it gives an infinitely intense delight.

But the light is too powerful for the soul, and the only way the soul can experience this light, even in an extremely contracted form, is if it is enclothed and protected by these GARMENTS, the garments of Mitzvot.

There are 248 positive Mitzvot and 365 negative Mitzvot (=613)

In the same way, it is said, that within a child there are 248 organs and 365 sinews.

In the same way as the 613 limbs and sinews, hidden in the seed of the father (Chochmah and the Written Torah), become revealed in the womb of the mother (Binah and the Oral Torah), and then the mother gives birth and raises 'many worlds', so too does the inner meaning of Written Torah become explained by the Oral Torah, which then is brought down into the myriads of Laws.

These laws are the Supernal Will in Keter (the Crown), which is above the head (Chochmah)

The Halachot therefore allow us to access the Divine Will and allow the soul to experience the pleasantness of the light of Hashem.

Gut Shabbos to all.