Vaetchanan
What the Maidens of Jerusalem Teach Us
Dear Friend,
What makes a good spouse?
We are fast approaching 15 Av, once one of the happiest days on the Jewish calendar. The Talmud tells us that many years ago the “daughters of Jerusalem would go dance in the vineyards” on the 15th of Av, and “whoever did not have a wife would go there” to find himself a bride.
“Raise your eyes and choose!” they would call out as they danced. “Don’t fix your eyes on beauty. Set your eyes on upbringing. ‘Charm is a lie, and beauty is vain; but a woman who has reverence for the L‑rd, she’ll be praised.’ (Proverbs 31:30)”
These young ladies knew the secret to lasting love. Looks, money, glitz, glamor are all secondary. The main thing is what’s going on inside. A G‑d-fearing, kind, giving, reliable, and intelligent spouse is a partner with whom to build a home and grow old.
Let those of us who are married look inward and find these qualities within ourselves and our spouses. And let us bless those of us looking for a spouse that they find one with the values of the maidens of Jerusalem.
The Chabad.org Team
Our sages proclaimed the 15th of Av as one of the happiest days of the year, when Jewish maidens would go out to dance, hoping to attract fitting suitors.
The Talmud tells us that when we pray, we should resemble the angels, about whom it is said, “Their legs were a straight leg . . .”
I don’t want to seem fussy, but I don’t want to settle either. So what’s the best way to go about defining whom I want to date?
Home in the womb, on the road of life, lying down in the grave, and waking up in the world to come . . .
A condensation of the weekly Torah portion alongside select commentaries culled from the Midrash, Talmud, Chassidic masters, and the broad corpus of Jewish scholarship.
In every language and culture, many other great sayings remind us of the earlier credo of Judaism’s greatest Torah leaders.
I’m not sure who was more excited about the mail arriving—Chaim Boruch or his siblings. (Or maybe it was me.)
Each of the unexpected guests presented himself as a relative of one of the orphans.
Rabbi Peretz and Mushka Kazen reach out in Louisiana, as her parents did 11 years ago.
A monumental effort with commentaries is launched with the first three volumes.
In program’s third decade, 26 rabbis to visit Jewish men and women in 450 prisons.
Nothing is greater than peace. Even when you are 100% right, and you know your spouse is 100% wrong, you can still give in for the sake of peace.
Better a difficult peace than an easy quarrel.
