בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יקוק אֱלֺקֵֽינוּ... אֲשֶׁר נָֽתַן לָֽנוּ תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת וְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם נָטַע בְּתוֹכֵֽנוּ...
Blessed are You, Adonoy our God... Who gave us the Torah of truth, and implanted eternal life within us.
(יב) כִּ֣י תִשָּׂ֞א אֶת־רֹ֥אשׁ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּ֧פֶר נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לַיקוק בִּפְקֹ֣ד אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם׃
If you this word backwards it will also read וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ, they shall give. This tells you that what a person gives to charity will come back to him; he will not be missing anything as a consequence of giving.
גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים יוֹתֵר מִן הַצְּדָקָה. צְדָקָה — בְּמָמוֹנוֹ; גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים — בֵּין בְּגוּפוֹ, בֵּין בְּמָמוֹנוֹ...
The Sages taught that acts of kindness are superior to charity... Charity can be performed only with one’s money, while acts of kindness can be performed both with his person and with his money...
לְעוֹלָם אֵין אָדָם מַעֲנִי מִן הַצְּדָקָה...
Never has anyone become poor by giving to tzedakah...
אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי אַהֲבָה מְקַלְקֶלֶת אֶת הַשּׁוּרָה וְשִׂנְאָה מְקַלְקֶלֶת אֶת הַשּׁוּרָה...
Rabbi Simeon b. Yohai said: Love upsets the natural order...
והיו לבשר אחד, כלומר בשר אחד וגוף אחד כי האשה הראשונה נבראה מהאיש מעצמו ומבשרו והנה היו לבשר אחד, וכן יהיו דבקים לעולם זה בזה כבשר אחד ומשניהם יתקיים המין...
והיו לבשר אחד, this means that they are to be as if they were made of the same flesh. It is a reminder to man that the wife of the first male was indeed made of the same flesh as his own. When the two joined in marital intercourse, they did indeed become once more one flesh. In the future, when engaging in the act of procreation, they would relive the experience Adam and Chavah had when their separate bodies joined for the first time after Chavah had become a person in her own right.
וכך גם כאשר איש ואשה חוזרים ומתאחדים, הם נעשים לגוף אחד. אולם הם יכולים להיות גוף אחד, רק אם באותו זמן יהיו לדעה אחת, לב אחד, ונפש אחת; וזה יתכן רק אם ישעבדו את כל כחותיהם ושאיפותיהם, מחשבותיהם ורצונותיהם, לעבודתו של רצון אחד נעלה יותר.
This can only be accomplished, if they also become one mind, one heart and one soul. Also, they must use all their strength and effort to the service of Hashem.
(יב) אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן חֲלַפְתָּא, לֹא מָצָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כְּלִי מַחֲזִיק בְּרָכָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֶלָּא הַשָּׁלוֹם...
(12) Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta said: the Holy One, Blessed be He, found no vessel that could contain blessing for Israel save that of peace...
(א) הוּא שָׁלוֹם. וּשְׁמֵיהּ שָׁלוֹם, וְאִתְקְשַּׁר כֹּלָּא בְּשָׁלוֹם.
He [G-d] Is peace, His Name is peace and everything is bound in peace.
כׇּל הַתּוֹרָה כּוּלָּהּ נָמֵי מִפְּנֵי דַּרְכֵי שָׁלוֹם...
Abaye objected: Aren’t the halakhot of the entire Torah also given on account of the ways of peace...
ויחן שם ישראל. כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד בְּלֵב אֶחָד, אֲבָל שְׁאָר כָּל הַחֲנִיּוֹת בְּתַרְעוֹמוֹת וּבְמַחֲלֹקֶת:
רשב״ג אומר כל המשים שלום בתוך ביתו מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו משים שלום בישראל על כל אחד ואחד.
Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel would say: Anyone who brings peace into his own home is regarded by the Torah as if he had brought peace to everyone in Israel.
(ח) [ח] שמא תאמרו "הרי מאכל, הרי משתה; אם אין שלום, אין כלום!
(8) 8) Lest you say "There is food and there is drink, but without peace there is nothing!"
(1) Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.
“G-d is One.” Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan says, “He doesn’t consist of three persons known as the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost.” G-d is One and only One. The same with Marriage:
אִשְׁתּוֹ כְּגוּפוֹ...
His wife is like his own flesh...
וְכַד נִשְׁמָתִין נָפְקִין דְּכַר וְנוּקְבָא כְּחֲדָא נָפְקִין. לְבָתַר כֵּיוָן דְּנָחֲתֵי מִתְפָּרְשָׁן דָּא לְסִטְרָא דָא וְדָא לְסִטְרָא דָא, וְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא מְזַוִּוג לוֹן לְבָתַר. וְלָא אִתְיְיהִיב זִוּוּגָא לְאָחֳרָא אֶלָּא לְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בִּלְחוֹדוֹי, דְּאִיהוּ יָדַע זִוּוּגָא דִּלְהוֹן לְחַבְּרָא לוֹן כְּדְקָא יָאוֹת.
As they set out from their place above, each soul is male and female as one. Only as they descend to this world do they part, each to its own side. Then, it is the One Above who unites them again – through marriage. This is His exclusive domain, for He alone knows which soul belongs to which and how they must reunite.
“The groom gives his bride a circular ring, which has no beginning and no end. This parallels Hashem giving Klal Yisrael the Torah, which is endless” (Made in Heaven, pages 47-49. See also Positive Vision by Rabbi Neuberger, page 27)
“The more one reviews the Gemara that he’s learning - by giving up his time for it - the sweeter and stronger the relationship becomes. So too, the more one gives to his wife - time and energy, etc. - the sweeter the relationship and marriage become!”
It may be explained that he performed the act of the mitzva all the days of his life with the same intent and will. Because the way of every person is that, at the beginning he is inspired to good, but afterwards it is lost from him. And he must constantly search for inspiration in new ways. And the truth is that the initial enthusiasm is the choicest. Regarding this, it was stated about Aharon that he did not change, and consequently he always arrived at new insights.
“Hakaras hatov is to feel gratitude by recognizing the good that someone has done on on behalf… The level of hakaras hatov one feels should be in proportion to the magnitude of the kindness rendered. It is not about who did more for whom, it is about honestly acknowledging what others have done on our behalf" (Let There Be Rain by Rabbi Shimon Finkelman and Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, page 318)