Perceiving Purity
At a wedding of a yeshiva student of ours, I took note of the brothers of the host. According to their dress, they were far from a Torah lifestyle. Their faith in Hashem was kept internal.
But during the course of the wedding, I noticed them casting glances at the kallah, and telling one another, “Look at the purity on the face of the bride.” How could these people assess kedushah? How could they discern the Shechinah on the face of the kallah? They do not observe Shabbat or any other mitzvot.
When there is an atmosphere of kedushah, even simple people feel it in the air. This was how these irreligious brothers could sense the aura of holiness surrounding the kallah, exuding from her radiant face.
This is a trace of the kedushah which our nation experienced at Har Sinai. At that time, Am Yisrael literally saw Hashem’s voice, as the pasuk states (Shemot 20:14), “The entire people saw the sounds.” It is naturally impossible to see sound. But when the kedushah is so intense, one can perceive things in a supernatural way.
Even irreligious Jews can observe the kedushah of a Jewish wedding, where the Shechinah is prevalent.
