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Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Can This Marriage Be Saved?

based on the Alshich's commentary on the first verse of Shir Hashirim

A wise king saw a beautiful and kind princess and loved her dearly. He fought against her enemies and saved her from all of her troubles. She too loved him and desired him. Eventually, there is a marriage where the king brings her close to him, and he hugged and kissed her.

However, as time passed, she started to befriend one of the king's servants. This got the king angry and he decreed to kick her out of his house for a designated number of years, but didn't completely sever ties with her. She then wandered from place to place, never really finding stability anywhere she went. She then regretted her actions and bemoaned the fact that she is away from her husband, the king. She hoped that she can one day come back to him.

The king, too, remembered his wife, and saw that she regreted her actions, so he saw that the time has come to take her back. He took her back, built her a house, and lived with her as before, while his wife promised never to sin as she sinned before.

However, this time, the woman took on some bad character traits, and the king despised her because of them. He again expelled her and forced her to endure terrible hardships - the lions, tigers and bears trampled her and the snakes bit her. This time, the king did not specify a time-limit for her time away due to the wickedness of her ways. However, he nevertheless still loves her and did not choose any other wife in her stead. He is longing every day for the time that she will mend her ways and be close to him again. Every other woman pales in comparison to her, even with her bad traits. She too longs for the day that she can come back to her husband, the king, so things can be like they used to be.

A foolish man tried to keep them away by speaking evil against the wife, saying that she is still following her evil ways. He tries to convince the king to forget her and move on.

A wise man then composed a love song that proves that the king still loves her even after he sent her away, and that he still loves her and will not choose another wife. In addition, he will eventually take her back under his wings as before.

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When we were in Egypt, we were like a princess who was captured by robbers. Hashem, in His great love for us, took us out of Egypt, split the sea, and "married" us at Har Sinai. He "kissed" us with the words of Torah and Mitzvot, brought us into His land, the Land of Israel, and built the Beit Hamikdash.

However, when we sinned with other gods, He was angry with us, and kicked us out of His house for 70 years. Afterwards, he brought us back, as Hashem said that the Mighty could only be jealous of other mighty ones, unlike these other gods that were worshipped. So, Hashem brought us back and built the second Beit Hamikdash.

However, many years later, we developed a baseless hatred for each other, and because of this, we were expelled from His house once again. We went from city to city and country to country among the nations not knowing when Hashem would return the Jewish people back to His house. But even with Hashem's face hidden, His face is only hidden for brief moments of anger while Hashem's right hand brings us closer. We also are longing for the day that Hashem will take us back under His wings.

Lest anyone say that Hashem has forsaken us Has VeShalom, Shelomo Hamelech composed Shir Hashirim for our current exile to show how Hashem still loves us and that He too wants us to come back to Him. The builder of the first Beit Hamikdash is consoling us regarding the final Beit Hamikdash.

So, the answer is:

Yes, the marriage will be saved - במהרה בימינו אמן.

1 Comments:

At Fri Apr 09, 07:12:00 AM 2010, Blogger sheri said...

The marriage can only be saved by positive actions of the lost princess. This is happening now!

 

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