Practice What You Preach
A man once crowed about his successes in restoring shalom bayit to couples who were not living in peace. I had a strange feeling that this man himself could use a boost to his own shalom bayit. I therefore asked him, “Do you and your wife have shalom bayit?”
Shamefacedly, he admitted that he, too, suffered from marital strife.
“That being the case, how can you demand of others to live peacefully with their spouses? How do you have the audacity to offer advice without implementing it yourself? If you cannot provide a role model for marital harmony, don’t demand it of others.”
People who want to help restore shalom bayit to others must first and foremost ensure that the Shechinah is comfortable in their own home. Once they have provided a good example of a happy marriage, they can expect to see positive results in others. Moreover, they should never gaze at the women who come to them for advice, so that they should not lose more than they gain, chas v’shalom.
