an after-thought to the class on "love"

I just came across a very beautiful idea which encapsulates much of what we were discussing last night. Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsh comments on why the Jewish people are likened to fish and water so often, specifically in matters of intimacy. Just like the sea on the surface is monotonous and in no way indicative of what lives beneath, and yet far below the surface lives a gorgeous world of intricate systems and harmonies, so too the Jewish people. Modesty dictates our outward persona, but underneath is a world rich in the colors and beauties of life beyond imagination. It would border on crass to elucidate many details in an email, but you should know that with tremendous ingenuity and consideration does the Torah approach the world of physical intimacy.

I've listened to my class again and felt there was one point that should have been more supported. The view of love is a reality, that it is a consequence of selfless giving. And marriage is the ultimate opportunity to maximize this, to imitate the goodness of the Almighty. But there are gradations of that love, and especially as we enter into a marriage, we are expected to "feel" very strongly about the other person - their strengths, sensitivities, beauty, idiosyncrasies, etc.. If that is called "love" in the vernacular, then so be it. But what "love" is capable of being would so far surpass it, like diamonds to pennies, that to call anything else by its name would be a horrible loss.