Love Story: To See with God’s Eyes: Marc Gafni
Listen to this story of perception.
The Malach was in search of a wife. They called him the Malach, the Angel, for his appearance was so stunning, his wisdom so immeasurable, he seemed a divine presence among common men. Word spread throughout the shtetls and cities, a search began. They came to the town of Shalom Shachnah — a great Master in his own right, who was famous for his intense study. He would sit before stacks of books, consumed in the words, sweating with concentration, moving for nary a bowl of soup or a stoke of the fire. Shalom had a daughter, who rumor had it had inherited more than a little of her father’s intensity.
The Angel had found his match — the shidduch (match) was made. A buzz went out far and wide — the angel was marrying the daughter of Shalom Shachnah.
Crowds gathered for the celebration. Everyone was there. A great host of people. But the host of the party? The father of the bride — where was he? He simply did not show up. Indeed, back at home, he had not stirred from his study, engrossed as he was in his great stack of books.
The wedding went on without him — and how it went on! It was ecstatic, enlightening, with dance and drink, canopied as if by a bow of divine light, as befit the joining of the Angel and his bride.
After the wedding, the mother of the bride went home to her book-bound husband and screamed, “Where were you?! Do you know what you just missed? A wedding like you wouldn’t believe! Your own daughter’s wedding…and she was wedded to an absolute angel, a celestial soul! And you, you honored your books over your own blood! I refuse to speak to you until you go to their house in Mezritch for a proper Sabbath to give them the respect they deserve.”
And what is a man to do when his wife protests so? He set out the next week for the three days’ travel to Mezritch. He arrives for the Sabbath. The Sabbath prayers commence. The Angel starts to sing. His voice rises and rivets the room, a voice unparalleled in earthly and heavenly spheres. A light fills the prayer hall, a light so enormous and magnetic that Shalom is overcome by its brilliance and faints. The song finishes and Shalom awakes.
The Angel approaches him and asks, “Tell us Shalom, what did you see?” Shalom answers with a whisper of awe, “I saw your angels. I saw all of your surrounding angels dancing about your shoulders! They were exquisite, amazing sites to behold. It was too much to bear. I passed out.”
The Angel shaking his head, replies, “Dear Father-in-law, it is a good thing that you passed out when you did. For if you would have beheld your daughter you would have perceived an even mightier and more majestic host of angels surrounding her. Their brilliance would have so overwhelmed you that you might not have woken up at all.”
Marc Gafni
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