The Forever Marriage

The connection between G-d and the Jewish people forged at Mount Sinai is compared to a betrothal. According to Jewish law, betrothal is when the groom sanctifies the bride by putting a ring on her finger, while the actual marriage is the consummation. Once the betrothal ceremony is complete, the bride becomes his wife and is forbidden to any other man. 

At Mount Sinai, the Jewish people and G-d were betrothed, which implied a bilateral obligation. G-d is obligated not to exchange us for another nation, while we must not abandon Him for strange gods.

Since the destruction of the Holy Temple and the subsequent exile, we are like a bride whose groom has disappeared, and she loyally awaits his return to consummate their marriage. The marriage, which implies a deep, close and personal connection, will take place when Moshiach comes. Then we will be released from our state of limbo and will build an everlasting edifice with G-d.

The betrothal was accomplished through Torah. G-d gave us a precious gift, with direction and detailed instructions for how to transform the world into a home for G-d. In the words of the prophet Hosea: “And you will be betrothed to me forever… and you will know G-d.”

Our marriage to Hashem will be consummated with the revelation of the deepest secrets of Torah, a “new Torah” which will be revealed to us by Moshiach. We will reach a transcendent level of understanding of G-d, a level unimaginable by today’s standard. But we can have a foretaste of this new level of Torah through studying the teachings of Chassidut.