L'zchus Shaindy Chana bas Malka - brachos in EVERYTHING!
Close to half of marriages break up.
Of the other half and change - how many are REALLY solid? Not so many. So WHO NEEDS IT???
The answer is - YOUR SOUL!! The only way to fix your soul is to get married. There is a discussion what the hardest mitzva in the Torah is. I would venture - the mitzva to get married.
The act of marriage is a cinch. You give her a ring [or even a dime - but don't try it...] in front of two Jewish men over 13 and PRESTO - your souls are bound together forever. [You might not be able to buy happiness but you can "buy" a wife. Or as I like to say about Shalom Bayit - if you want Shalom - buy it].
But maintaining it as a VIABLE, healthy, live union, requires tremendous work. The darshanim say: קשה זיווגם כקריעת ים סוף. Bringing two people together is as hard as splitting the sea. The miracle of splitting the sea was not only in the very splitting but that it remained split the entire time that the Jews passed through.
The miracle of marriage [it's a miracle if it works] is keeping the couple happily together.
Men and women are so incredibly different that it is a herculean task. To "fall" in love is easy. All one needs for that are hormones. But to stay in a real, lasting meaningful love is a great test.
So a few pointers for those interested:
1] Your wife isn't crazy. She is just female. Either is your husband. He is just male. Accept the gender differences and everything that goes along with it.
2] Don't despair ever. This is your tikkun in this world. G-d put you together for a reason.
3] Make your marriage among your highest priorities [even higher that all of the important info on the gadget you may carry around].
4] Make Hashem the glue that binds you together. From a this-worldly perspective it is tremendously hard to remain connected because of all of the differences both gender based and the confluence of countless other factors that make life such a challenge. But if you are both elevated to a higher plane - you meet at a point of commonality, the נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא. That pure place of holiness where we are all .... ONE!!
