Tu'B'Av or to be Guroodle

By Dnoll

Tu’B’Av or to be Guroodle, that is another question altogether!

Tu’B’Av is a day in Israel that is a lot like Valentines Day in the States. A few years ago, Adele and I decided not to celebrate Saint Valentines Day because we are Jewish. This was great for me! I didn’t have to worry any more about hearts or flowers, about candy or jewelry! I could just treat it like any other day and just ignore the massive onslaught of guilt and marketing coming from every public source imaginable. Life was a little easier, a little simpler. Then, about a year or two before we moved to Ha Aretz, I learned of the existence of a Jewish holiday that is about celebrating love. Oy Va Voy, I guess I don’t get off that easy, do I? So, in typical male fashion, I ignored it. I ignored it in the States, and then when I moved to Israel, I ignored it some more. I had lots of good reasons like the Milchemet Lebenon Shniah, (The Second Lebanon War) that we landed right in the middle of. I was busy with Ulpan (Language School) and could easily fain being overwhelmed or just plain ignorant. Well, not any more. This year I had big plans to at least acknowledge the day in some small way. Maybe chocolate or jewelry, candy or flowers…

Oyy, I forgot. I just looked it up on the internet and it was on Monday this week. Bummer. Well, all is not lost. Maybe I can write something special about my dear wonderful wife on the Blog! OK, now I am excited! The story goes like this; oh…actually, I don’t know the story of Tu’B’Av… I guess I can start learning that one with my friend Moshe this Shabbat. (He is the same one from the ramp building escapades and asked to get together with me to learn) anyways, back to the story;

I think I will just write a little about the amazing woman that I married. This is no regular woman; this is a woman that I fell in love with the moment I saw her face. I was doomed to live a life with the most amazing variety of interest, energy, beauty, playfulness, ingenuity, adventure, wisdom, intuition, intelligence, and spirituality. Most of all I was doomed to live life with the utmost of truth, and not least of all, I was doomed to live life with the most amazing variety of love’ the kind of love that fills every pore, every blink, every footstep with all of the highs and lows, with all of the complexities and… hey, wait a second! (She just gave me an earful for sitting around on the computer and not taking the dog to the Vet with her, seriously, she just did!) I guess that’s the doom part.

Anyways, you get the idea. Adele has a quality about her that is just indescribable. The picture above just starts to depict this. I took this picture when Zach and I were messing around while she was talking with a friend on the phone (she loves the phone!) and helping with some life council (Guru) stuff. It captures the look that Adele can have that has so much depth, so much meaning. Yeah, she probably was just completely engaged with the guru thing and was annoyed at our shenanigans, but I think that there is more too. I think she may actually know how deep the rabbit hole goes, and maybe decided not to care. I think she can see far beyond the now. I think she knows the way, but just chooses to play, all the while knowing that there is enough time… and that life is really about the journey, not its end.

I love you Oodle or should I say Guroodle,
Ani Ohev otach, ve simchas al Tu’B’Av; ulay shavua habaa yeheyah chocolat...
Shabbat Shalom kulam.

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