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SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Should Jews
Celebrate
Valentine'sDay?

RABBI JUDY CHESSIN

Special to the Jewish News

Washington Township, Ohio
alentine's Day,. Feb. 14, is
one of the most widely cele-
brated, unofficial holidays in
I the United States. Card
shops and florists promote it and even
the most unsentimental of spouses .
observe it. But should Jews celebrate
Valentine's Day?
To answer this question, let us first
look at the background of Valentine's
Day..
In ancient times, mid-February was
the time of the Lupercian festival, a
celebration of the gods of fertility and
sexuality.
On Feb. 15, boys would draw
names of girls to be their sexual part-
ners to honor the goddess Februata
Juno. In 496 C.E., Pope Gelasius out-
lawed this "indecent" pagan festival.
However, due to the date's over-
whelming popularity, the pope
replaced it with a celebration deemed
morally suitable. He chose the mar-
red Bishop Valentine as patron saint
of the new festival.
Back in 270 C.E., in Rome, Valen-
tine had enraged the mad -emperor,
Claudius II, who'd issued an edict that
forbid marriage. Claudius felt married
men made poor soldiers because of
their reluctance to leave their families
for battle. Needing good soldiers, the
emperor simply abolished marriage. In
response, Bishop Valentine, would
marry young lovers in secret.
When Claudius learned of this trea-
son, he ordered him to renounce his
faith or die. Valentine not only refused
to renounce Christianity, but he
attempted to convert the emperor.
Legend has it that while awaiting
his execution in prison, Valentine fell
madly in love with the blind daughter
of the jailer, Asterius.
Through his unswerving faith, he
miraculously restored her vision. He
signed a farewell message to her "From
your Valentine."
Valentine was clubbed, stoned and

V

Rabbi Judy Chessin is spiritual leader
of Temple Beth Or in Washington Town-
ship, Ohio. This piece first appeared in
the Dayton Jewish. Observer.

beheaded on Feb. 14, 270 C.E. Since
Valentine's Day originally was a pagan
orgy transformed into a celebration of
the patron saint of love, there seems to
be little justification for its observance
within Judaism.
But that does not mean we Jews do
not have a time to celebrate the values
of holy love, committed relationships,
marital romance and even physical
affection.
Indeed, there is just such a day, on
the Sabbath of Pesach, when we go to
synagogue and hear the lyrical love
poetry of the Song of, Songs.
_ The Song of Songs is a biblical book
and a collection of erotic love songs
between a man and a woman.
The woman, known as the Shulam-
mite, is strong and open about her
love. She invites her lover to her "gar-
den," and frankly celebrates the cou-
ple's sexuality. She is equal to her mate
and joyful in her femininity.
For his part, the male lover is both
tender and powerful, captivated by his
lover and elevated by their passion.
To be sure, the rabbis of old under-
stood the Song of Songs as an allegory
of the love between God and the peo-
ple of Israel.
They justified its inclusion in the
biblical canon and its reading on
Passover by interpreting the intimate \
relationship between God and Israel as
one of absolute fidelity and exclusivity.
So, at the very moment when so
many people succumb to spring fever,
our faith prescribes a day to celebrate
our own monogamous, intimate, lov-
ing, faithful relationships.
The covenant of marriage mirrors
the covenant of our people with God.
And the Sabbath of Pesach becomes
an ideal moment to revel in both.
Let us use the Sabbath of Passover
as a day of romance to reconsecrate
the love in our marriages. Let us
renew our wedding vows, and read to
each other from the Song of Songs.
Ask your rabbi if you, along with
other couples celebrating significant
anniversaries this year, can read publicly
from the scroll, or participate in an
honor in the synagogue on that Sab-
bath. Consider reciting to one another
the words of Psalrn 31 (Aishet Chayil, A
Woman of Valor) and Psalm 112 (Ish
Yarei et Adonai, A Faithful Man).
Surely these time-honored words
express sentiments far more lasting
than those of store-bought greeting
cards.
And if you want flowers and candy
(kosher for Pesach, of course), go right
ahead! ❑

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