Podcasts religion From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life Shabbat Sermon: The Paradox of Forever Love with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

Shabbat Sermon: The Paradox of Forever Love with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

Published: Oct. 21, 2023, 5:34 p.m.

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\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I would like to start with something lovely, the most beautiful words in the world:\\xa0 I love you forever. Think of the people and places that have inspired these magical words.

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\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 I have a question.\\xa0 How long is forever?\\xa0 How long do we get to keep who and what we love forever?\\xa0

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\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 This past Monday, our beloved friend and teacher in Jerusalem, Micah Goodman, was speaking to 100 Conservative Rabbis about what is going on in Israel, and he said something about forever love that is so quintessentially Micah.\\xa0 I had never heard it before.\\xa0 But once he said it, it was obviously true.

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\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Micah observed that there is a paradox about what we love forever.\\xa0 Namely, if we assume that what we love forever, we will have forever, then we will not have it forever; we are at serious risk of losing it.\\xa0 But if we worry that what we love forever we may lose, it may not last forever, and if we work hard on preserving it, there is a higher chance that we can hold onto it.\\xa0 If we assume it, we lose it.\\xa0 If we don\\u2019t assume it, if we worry that we could lose it, we have a higher chance of keeping it.

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\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The most obvious example is marriage.\\xa0 When a couple gets married,\\xa0 they pledge to love one another forever.\\xa0 What all of us who have been married for any length of time know is that this pledge is not self-executing; it cannot be sustained by the power and beauty of the chuppah; it must be sustained by both spouses investing in their marriage every day.\\xa0 It must be sustained by both spouses making their marriage their highest priority.\\xa0 Taking a marriage for granted, taking anything for granted, puts what we love in grave jeopardy.

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\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Micah\\u2019s lens for understanding Israel today is the paradox of forever love.\\xa0

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