Let My People Know

"A fictionalized picture of each other"

 

When people base their families on love alone, that family relationship reflects a fictionalized picture of each other and of the mutual relationship. 

In the fortunate cases, romantic love is replaced by a more enduring (though less glamorous) love for the other person, which also includes the difficult elements of accepting the other person's faults, and taking on obligations. 

However, when such love does not develop, the family remains a piece of fiction that will not last. 

A family that was built from the outset on fictitious ideas will not withstand financial, emotional, or social stress, or the spouses will imagine that they love others, outside the family. 

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
 
From Simple Words by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz