Bashert, which in Yiddish means “predestined,” is most commonly applied to the concept of one’s intended soul-mate. This idea that, when dating, one is searching for his/her bashert, his/her divinely intended life partner, stems from Talmud Sotah 2a, which states: “Forty days before the creation of a child, a Heavenly Voice issues forth and proclaims: ‘The daughter of A is for B.’”


The concept of bashert implies that one’s choice of marriage partners is preordained even before conception. There are a great number of discussions that stem from this concept: questions concerning dating, marriage, bad marriages, divorce, second marriages….But the question Jewish Treats wishes to address today is the broader understanding of the concept of bashert.


The quote from Talmud Sotah 2a goes on to state that just as a Heavenly Voice calls forth intended marriage partners, it also calls out “…the house of C is for D; the field of E is for F!” The Jewish idea of predetermination versus free-will allows that certain points in one’s life are set, but how one gets there is determined by one’s free choices.


Those pieces of our lives that are “pre-determined” may be related to one’s wealth, the country in which one lives or the person one marries. And while we may never know why these points of bashert happen, they are often important aspects of a greater story.


The story of Purim is a perfect example of a mysterious match that made sense only in heaven. Nothing, not even the words of Mordechai her guardian, could have comforted Esther when Achashverosh chose her to be his queen. He certainly was not the type of man she expected to marry. Yet, had she not been queen, she would not have been able to undo Haman’s decree, and save her people.


This Treat was last posted on February 24, 2013.


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