To Truly Know Another

The Torah begins with the concept of "knowing" one's spouse.

Commentaries explain that Adam "knew" Eve, because he was intimate with her. There was revelation of body.

But there was also revelation of soul.

Perhaps, of all the relationships in the Torah, Adam is the quintessential model of "knowing" one's spouse, because when he looked at her, he saw only her. Her essence. - They were all alone in the world, and brand new. He did not "know" her compared to others, within her relationships with them, within her abilities, or accomplishments.

Adam "knew" Eve herself.

To be sure, accomplishments, abilities, interactions...can influence our respect and admiration for one another, shape, and enhance our relationships, or, at other times, bring disappointment along with other negative feelings.

There was revelation of body...but there was also revelation of soulAdamBut the deeper the "knowledge," the deeper the ability to understand one another's needs, the deeper the ability to make marriage meaningful.

Do we know our spouse independent from the world- what makes them laugh, what makes them cry, their intrinsic disposition?

Does our spouse know us independent of the world- what our nature is, what our soul looks like?

One can only know- if the other feels safe to reveal, and if one is receptive to it.

Intimacy.

Not simply of the body.

But of the soul.

Stripping away the layers of what we do, what we accomplish, who we've interacted with.

Until we're all alone in the world, and brand new.

Only looking at one other.

Only looking at the one another's soul.

Who they themselves are, at the untainted, untapped, purest, deepest level.

And then, Adam knows Eve.