Under the chuppah

As I wrote in a previous post, this past Saturday evening, I saw a video presentation entitled “Eternal Imprints” presented by the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation. The first speaker, Chani Juravel, stated that Yaakov married Leah and Rachel. The Hebrew word “Rachel” means lamb. She said that the word “Leah” comes from יללה which means a whine, or a moan. Ms. Juravel said that it is easy to like a lovable lamb as represented by Rachel, while Leah represented the dreariness of marriage. The challenge for a spouse is to weather the dreariness, as well, and she reminded the audience that it was Leah who produced the child who would ascend to the throne.
Ms. Juravel explained that the first brocho recited under the chuppah is “shehakol bara lichvodo.” – Who has created everything for His glory. Hakol – every action that we undertake in marriage, we should be aware that it should be done lichvodo- for His glory. We should emulate Hashem’s ways and, just as G-d restores our soul every morning and has faith in our abilities, we should wipe the slate clean and give our spouses another chance. We should remember that Hashem is the creator and the spouse that we were given was carefully crafted into Hashem’s plan to provide us the opportunity to reach our full spiritual potential.