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Realized Love

A couple lived in Sidon.  They had been married for 10 years without children.  The husband then demanded a divorce.  So the couple went to see Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai.  The rabbi opposed their divorce and tried to convince them to stay together but the husband was adamant.

"Since you have resolved to divorce," the rabbi told them, "you should give a party to celebrate your separation just as you gave one to celebrate you wedding."

The couple agreed.

During the course of the evening the husband, who had drunk to  much wine, said to his wife, "My dear, before we separate, choose whatever you consider most precious in this house and take it with you when you return to your father's house to live."

After the husband had fallen into a drunken sleep the woman ordered her servants to carry him to her father's house and put him to bed here.  In the middle of the might the husband awoke.

"Where am I?" he called out.

"At my father's house," his wife replied.  You told me to take whatever I considered most precious to me.  There is nothing in the world more precious than you."

Moved by her words of love the husband remained married to his wife an they lived happily after that.

Shir HaShirim Rabba 1:4

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“Between 1305 and the early 1800’s. the House of Taxis ran a form of pony express service all over Europe….   Its couriers clad in blue and silver uniforms, crisscrossed the continent carrying messages between princes and generals, merchants and money lenders.” –Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave We may think we are the first generation consumed by rapid communication but we are not.   Throughout our history it has been a priority. Of course, now in the 21 st century we must ask: are we better or worse for it?