Love and Marriage

“And you will be happy with all the good God has bestowed upon you” Devarim 27:11.
The end of the Torah depicts an idyllic time when a man will stand before the high priest with his first fruits and declare his joy and fortune which God has given him, his wife, their children and community.

This individual is a composite of many Israelites: the escapee from Egypt, the bewildered at Sinai, the sufferer at violating God’s will, the wanderer in the desert, the survivor, the conqueror of Canaan, the builder and settler of the land. Ultimately, he is a husband, father and family man looking back on his journey and asking himself the one question which the Torah expects of him matter-of-factly— genuinely be ‘happy’ with all the good God has bestowed upon you.

Happiness. How is it measured? How does one reflect on one’s life and determine “yes I have been happy with all the good God has bestowed upon me”?

This week my wife Hadley and I celebrated our twenty year anniversary. It gave us some time to pause and reflect on our lives, our marriage and the journey we traversed. What question should we ask to aptly assess our twenty years?

Can we say to each other and to ourselves “And you will be happy with all the good God has bestowed upon you”?

Thank God, through living in different continents, with different roles and many challenges and changes in our lives one constant remains—And I am happy with all the good God has bestowed upon me…with my beautiful wife. I truly feel blessed and fortunate and happy that we share our lives together, with happiness, spirit and love.
Mazal tov!