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Eishet Chayil: Bringing the Shechina Into Our Home



“Moses saw the entire work, and behold! – they had done it as God had commanded, so they had done! And Moses blessed them.” (Exodus 39:43) How did Moses bless the Children of Israel when he saw the completed Tabernacle? Rashi says, “May it be the Will that the Divine Presence shall rest in the work of your hands. As the verse says, “May the pleasantness of My Master, our Lord, be upon us – may He establish our handiwork for us; our handiwork may He establish.” (Psalms 90:17)

The Ketav Sofer explains Moses’ blessing as, “May you, the Children of Israel, have the will and desire for the Divine Presence to rest in the work of our hands.”

Our Sages teach us that the Divine Presence rests in a home in which there is wholeness between husband and wife: ‘Ish’ – man – has the letter ‘yud’ of God’s Name, and ‘Isha’ – woman – has the letter ‘hay’ of God’s Name – to teach us that when a man and woman live together in peace, the Divine Presence dwells in their home.

The Eishet Chayil is a song about the Divine Presence and our ability to make our home a place where God will desire to dwell because of the beautiful relationship between husband and wife. We sing Eishet Chayil to honor our wives and to invite the Shechina to dwell in our homes.

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