Malkie and I are very touched by all of the blessings and good wishes extended to us on the occasion of our daughter, Mushka’s recent marriage to Yossi Cohen. Marrying off a child is an intense experience, especially the first one. Thank G-d the wedding was wonderful and, again we are grateful for those who graced us with their blessings both in person and from afar.
There are certain standard forms of blessing that the Rebbe wrote to people in honor of a wedding. One of those is the Hebrew phrase “Chaim Me’usharim Bakol.” Chaim means life. Bakol means in all. Me’usharim is hard to translate. It is the plural form of Me’ushar, which is the verb form of a combination of happiness and good fortune. So the blessing could be rendered as “A life of happiness and good fortune in all.”
On the morning of the wedding Malkie and I took Mushka to visit the Rebbe’s Ohel. As we stood there praying for our daughter’s future, I contemplated the meaning of this blessing, Chaim Me’usharim Bakol. At first glance it seems a bit cliché. We wish a young couple happiness. But happiness is subjective. What if they are too immature to know what true happiness is? Or what is they are so mature that they are happy with very little? That is why we add good fortune to the mix. This is more objective. On the other hand, good fortune does not guarantee happiness. One has to also come to appreciate what good fortune is as it comes from the Source of all Blessing. So the Rebbe combines the two together. And he then adds Bakol, in all. If a person has happiness and good fortune in all, health, prosperity, a peaceful marriage, healthy children, spiritual fulfillment and a purposeful life, this is indeed an all-encompassing worthy blessing.
As they stand at the very beginning of their lives together, we wish our daughter and son-in-law, to quote the Rebbe, Chaim Me’usharim Bakol, a life of happiness and good fortune in all and the wisdom to appreciate it! They began their marriage surrounded by the love of family and friends, the spirituality of our sacred marriage customs, and the holiness of a chupah in the shadow of 770, the place from which the Rebbe taught, inspired and blessed so many. May this serve as a beautiful and solid foundation upon which they build their lives.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin