Valentine wish: Repair the State of Our Unions

The Aspen Times ^ | February 14, 2013 | Melanie Sturm

[Aspenhuskerette]

“First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes the baby in the baby carriage,” goes the rhyme. Unfortunately, in large swaths of American society, this rhyme is playing in reverse, with dire consequences for lower-income Americans.

Given five decades of deteriorating marriage trends, it appears Americans concur with H.L. Mencken, who joked, “Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who'd want to live in an institution?”

Since 1960, the percentage of married Americans plunged from 72 percent to 51 percent last year, a record low. Meanwhile, babies born to unwed mothers skyrocketed from 4 percent in 1960 to 41 percent in 2011, another ominous record considering that out-of-wedlock children are 82 percent more likely to suffer poverty and other social ills.

However, Think Again before assuming Americans, like Mencken, believe that “the longest sentence you can form with two words is ‘I do.'”

[Aspenhuskerette]

some surprising facts in this column

[Jeremiah Jr]

Here's some more facts...

Shabbat Shekalim and Valentines Day / Cause and Effect

A Celebration of Soul Mates

Shabbat Shekalim - Exodus 30:11-16 JPS

11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 When you take a census of the Israelite people according to their enrollment, each shall pay the Lord a ransom for himself on being enrolled, that no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled. 13 This is what everyone who is entered in the records shall pay: a half-shekel by the sanctuary weight — twenty gerahs to the shekel — a half-shekel as an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is entered in the records, from the age of twenty years up, shall give the Lord’s offering: 15 the rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than half a shekel when giving the Lord’s offering as expiation for your persons. 16 You shall take the expiation money from the Israelites and assign it to the service of the Tent of Meeting; it shall serve the Israelites as a reminder before the Lord, as expiation for your persons.

***

Half

While reading Moshe Idel’s book Kabbalah and Eros I happened on this note.

13 The numerical equivalent of sheqel like nefesh – soul, is 430. The reference to division of the meditator’s concerns between the sensory and intellective world, i.e., “half for you, half for God,” is to BT, Pesahim, fol. 68b.

Quoting R. Isaac of Acre I believe.

So the gematria of shekel is 430, and the same for nefesh/soul. But then I said to no one in particular, why would we give a half shekel? Wouldn’t we give a whole one?

It was then that I caught a glimpse into the concept/source code of the soulmate.

Half

The Sefer Zohar goes on at length on the creation/birth of souls, formed as a sphere male and female (See: Bereshith/Genesis 1:27 in the image of ELoHIM, male and female.) souls. The physical form of ADaM is created in Chapter 2:7.

We’re divided above and we are born into this physical realm.

Now back to Shabbat Shekalim and Valentines Day. What links them together?

Well the gematria of nefesh is 430, what is half of 430? 215, and Valentines Day falls out on, 214 (Feb. 14).

Half

Close but then there are 28 days in most Februarys and Shabbat Shekalim falls out near most February 14ths. This year it’s February 9, 2013.

Cause and Effect!

Valentines Day could only be set in February and could only be set on the 14th!

That’s why we’re here, Tikkun Olam and finding our soulmate!

Happy Valentines Day!