Day 8/50: The Fantasy World of the Screen

וּמָ֨לְא֜וּ בָּתֵּ֤י מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ אֶת־הֶ֣עָרֹ֔ב… וְהִפְלֵיתִי֩ בַיּ֨וֹם הַה֜וּא אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ גּ֗שֶׁן אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַמִּי֙ עֹמֵ֣ד עָלֶ֔יהָ לְבִלְתִּ֥י הֱיֽוֹת־שָׁ֖ם עָרֹ֑ב

And the houses of Egypt will be filled with the mixture of noxious creatures … And I will separate on that day the land of Goshen upon which my people stand, that there will be no mixture of noxious creatures there.

In our generation, there are people who cling to their fantasy worlds even in their married lives. At times, these fantasies lead them to relate to their wives as objects rather than people. They are accustomed to the type of life portrayed on the ”screen,” and they try to pull their own marriages into this imaginary world. Tragically, instead of wanting a true eishes chayil, they seek the type of relationship that is depicted on the internet, Rachmana litzlan.

When these individuals come to discover that real married life and real relationships bear no resemblance to the fantasies depicted on the screen, they are overcome with extreme frustration and disappointment. This is the destruction that fantasies bring upon us.

A married man who is trapped in fantasy will live a life of loneliness, detached from the one person who is closest to him. Instead of forging a stronger bond of love and devotion with his eishes chayil, he will continue to pursue artificial companionship and cheap thrills that disappear as quickly as they come.

Marriage, by definition, is an opportunity to develop a genuine relationship of love, devotion, and deep emotional connection. It provides us with the greatest and most rewarding gift—the ability to connect and to create a bond of complete unity.