I Got Married Last Week [In Israel] (MAZEL TOV, Ben Shapiro!)

I got married last week. Hence my absence from this space for the first time in seven years. It was a beautiful wedding in Acre, Israel, overlooking the ocean at sunset. My father wrote the music for the processional, which brought everyone to tears. My bride looked stunning, of course. We broke the glass, we danced, we ate and we celebrated until deep into the night.

Outside the wedding hall stood a guard. Every wedding in Israel requires an armed guard to prevent terrorist attacks. Only the armed guards prevent the infliction of mass casualties at joyous events; only the armed guards protect the ceremonies that act as the foundation stones to civilization.

In the general war against Islamofascism, civilization requires three elements. First, civilization requires building blocks -- families dedicated to teaching traditional values, freedom and liberty to future generations. Second, civilization requires the armed guard -- the men and women willing to put themselves on the line to protect those building blocks. Third, civilization requires leaders.

Those leaders must recognize the value of the foundational blocks -- they must understand the value of family. They must see that families represent a bulwark of independence against the overbearing state, and are small spheres of private initiative and activity.

Just as importantly, those leaders must recognize the value of the armed guard. The leaders must understand that there are those who seek to destroy the freedom-loving family in favor of Islamic tyranny. Our leaders must see that our enemies are those who seek to create a world where fear of the theistic state trumps love of family. And most of all, our leaders must appreciate that the armed guard must fight the enemy with every weapon in civilizations arsenal.

Any aspiring leader who shirks from nurturing, cherishing and, when necessary, deploying the armed guard in defense of freedom is unqualified to lead. Such leaders are pretenders. They may speak prettily and murmur soothing noises, but when the time comes to place the armed guard at the door, they balk. "Is the armed guard necessary?" they protest. "After all, he may provoke our enemy rather than defeating him. Would it not be better to leave the wedding unprotected and rely on the mercy of our nemeses?"

The do-nothing leaders -- men like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama -- destroy families. They leave families open to attack by trusting the untrustworthy. They watch idly while families are torn asunder, then disarm the armed guard in the fleeting hope that further appeasement will do the trick.

This is worse than foolishness -- it is unmitigated surrender. No country needs a leader who enters office waving a white flag.

I am 24 years old. My wife is 20. Together we plan, with the help of God, on having healthy, happy, freedom-loving children who will grow up with the security provided by the armed guard. The question of who will lead America is no longer a political question to me -- it is a personal question. Who will protect my family? Who will protect the future of my children?

As the waves beat on the shore in Acre, the rabbi intoned the words of the sheva berachot -- the blessings recited at the Jewish wedding ceremony. "Blessed are You, God, King of the Universe," sang the rabbi, "Who created joy and gladness, groom and bride, mirth, glad song, pleasure, delight, love, brotherhood, peace and companionship." Without the armed guard -- and the leader who empowers the armed guard -- the joy of liberty, the power of love, and the future of our children are murdered before they begin.

The Sheva Berachot , the Seven Blessings Of A Jewish wedding ceremony:

Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, SheHakol Barah Lichvodo

You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, who created everything for his glory.

Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Yotzer Ha'Adam

You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, the creator of man.

Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Asher Yatzar Et Ha'Adam Betzalmo, b'Tzelem Dmut Tavnito, VeHitkon Lo Mimenu Binyan Adei Ad. Baruch Ata HaShem Yotzer Ha'Adam

You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, who created man in His image, in the pattern of His own likeness, and provided for the perpetuation of his kind. You are blessed, Lord, the creator of man.

Sos Tasis VeTagel HaAkarah, BeKibbutz Bane'ha Letocha BeSimchaa. Baruch Ata HaShem, Mesame'ach Tzion BeVaneha

Let the barren city be jubilantly happy and joyful at her joyous reunion with her children. You are blessed, Lord, who makes Zion rejoice with her children.

Sameach TeSamach Re'im Ahuvim, KeSamechacha Yetzircha BeGan Eden MiKedem. Baruch Ata HaShem, MeSame'ach Chatan VeKalah

Let the loving couple be very happy, just as You made Your creation happy in the garden of Eden, so long ago. You are blessed, Lord, who makes the bridegroom and the bride happy.

Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Asher Barah Sasson VeSimcha, Chatan VeKalah, Gila Rina, Ditza VeChedva, Ahava VeAchava, VeShalom VeRe'ut. MeHera HaShem Elokeinu Yishama BeArei Yehudah U'Vchutzot Yerushalayim, Kol Sasson V'eKol Simcha, Kol Chatan V'eKol Kalah, Kol Mitzhalot Chatanim MeChupatam, U'Nearim Mimishte Neginatam. Baruch Ata HaShem MeSame'ach Chatan Im Hakalah.

You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, who created joy and celebration, bridegroom and bride, rejoicing, jubilation, pleasure and delight, love and brotherhood, peace and friendship. May there soon be heard, Lord our G-d, in the cities of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem, the sound of joy and the sound of celebration, the voice of a bridegroom and the voice of a bride, the happy shouting of bridegrooms from their weddings and of young men from their feasts of song. You are blessed, Lord, who makes the bridegroom and the bride rejoice together.

Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Boreh Pri HaGafen.

You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, creator of the fruit of the vine.

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