"When a man marries a woman,,," - So much to say about this statement, which appears in two consecutive passages in this week's portion, in VERY different contexts. So much to say about the source of the mitzvah of marriage, but no time to say it, because it's only an hour until Shabbat and this Shabbat is, bli ayin hara, our oldest son's ufruf!!! This next week he is indeed "ki tetze", when he joins his kallah in their new home in Elazar after their wedding this next Yom Revi'i (Wednesday), G-d willing! May we all be blessed to built batim ne'emanim b'yisrael, to the thousandth generation!!!
During Havdalah each week, we recite a verse taken from the Megillah: “Layhudim hayta orah v’simchah v’sason vicar ”. ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר Many, perhaps most, people mispronounce the last word. While it should be “vee-kar” ויקר -“and honor”, usually people say “v’eekar” ועיקר . It’s a case of substituting a more familiar word for a less familiar one. People know the word עיקר , “root” or “main principle”, and are not familiar with the word יקר , taken here from the Aramaic cognate of the Hebrew כבוד , or “honor”. “Honor” as a meaning of both כבוד and יקר is derivative of their primary meaning – weight, heaviness, substantiality. Now, in the Megillah, both the word כבוד and the word יקר are used. But whereas the former is used only in connection with money and material wealth, the latter is reserved for honor emanated upon one by the king. Our honor as Jews is derived from the notion that our very existence points to...
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