Yael and Shachar got married and I got inspired.

Wednesday night I attended the wedding of Yael and Shachar at Sdei Elyahu, a Dati Leumi Kibbutz near Beit She'an. Yael is the daughter of my wife's first cousin. That branch of my wife's mother's family moved to Israel after the war while another ended up in the USA. I was looking at the Israeli branch and had some interesting observations which I would like to share here as it has an impact on what I have been writing about Hashgacha.

First some impressions about the Kibbutz wedding. People dress simply, no fancy rags to say the least and the presentation of the food and the decoration of the hall is utilitarian. There were a lot of people - the whole Kibbutz practically plus the rest of the guests. Usually in such big crowds one would expect a certain distance. Here the warmth and happiness was palpable, everybody felt part of the simcha. Shachar is a career soldier and the underlying current was that here another family of dedicated Jews is being formed. Looking around at the crowd you saw a mixture of our bretherns from a few Chareidim to Dati Leumi types, white shirts with tzitzis hanging out, to chilonim and everybody was comfortable with each other partaking in the dancing and the emotional bonding. The dancing was intense and we all felt as one and equals. There was a feeling of belonging, where everybody practiced his religion according to his understanding, the common thread being that we are all servants of HKBH referring to Him within our individuality. The speeches all mentioned God and His relationship to us and our land. To me this is a small sample of what Avraham, Ytzchak and Yaacov followed by Moshe and the other early fathers of our nation set in motion thousands of years ago. A nation of people that are involved with God and acknowledge Him but also act and live a life dedicated to perpetuate this way of life in our own land. It is not just a philosophy but a way of acting creatively partaking in God's world.

Here we see the meaning of Hashgacha. The decisions made by an earlier generation, the first after the holocaust, has impacted the next few and we can see clearly how the underlying motive of those people affected their descendants. Those who looked beyond themeselves, those who wanted to partake in the enterprise of establishing our own nation with a land of our own, took the necessary risks and their reward is the fruition of a generation of independent, healthy and creative Jews.

Shabbat Shalom from Yerushalayim..