Meeting at the Well
I am going through an interesting but draining exercise right now. The rabbi that is marrying me and Judy is requiring us to go through pre-marital counseling, something that is typical if not required for Jewish couples. It's a process to prepare us for being married, for us to understand what is expected in a marriage, to lay the foundation for life after engagement, to understand each other better, and to air out any issues and pre-conceived notions that we will bring into the relationship. The rabbi that is doing the counseling - different rabbi than the one who is marrying us since the rabbi marrying us is a college friend - has asked us to go through a book called Meeting at the Well: A Jewish Spiritual Guide to Being Engaged. I am on chapter two, exercise two, and while it's a freeing process, it's also taking a toll on me. Answering the questions isn't easy, requires a lot of thought, effort, and honesty. But it is helping to reveal some things that I wasn't aware of and that will hopefully lay the groundwork for a solid relationship with Judy that succeeds not just in the near term but in the long term.