{"id":15530,"date":"2026-03-10T11:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/mysterious-ways-blessed-by-bashert\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T20:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:46:19","slug":"mysterious-ways-blessed-by-bashert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/mysterious-ways-blessed-by-bashert\/","title":{"rendered":"Mysterious Ways: Blessed by Bashert"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there is one thing that I have learned as a tenth-generation rabbi and longtime professor at Yeshiva University in New York City, it is that things are rarely what they seem, and that the hand of God is ever present in our lives. We Jews even have a word for it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent a lifetime studying and teaching the Talmud, the central text of Judaism and the basis of all Jewish law. It\u2019s a sacred record of Jewish thought and debate dating back to the earliest rabbis. One that has inspired numerous commentaries over the centuries by some of the great Hebrew scholars, giants of our faith.<\/p>\n

Generations of rabbis have looked to these sages for wisdom and inspiration. My personal hero is Moses Maimonides\u2014a twelfth-century rabbi, physician and philosopher, whose guidance on everything from marriage to medical ethics is still followed by millions of Jews today.<\/p>\n

But few have read his actual words, relying instead on texts based on original source material published long after his death that may contain critical errors\u2014a point of considerable debate among Talmudic scholars.<\/p>\n

For example, Jewish law states three requirements for marriage, any of which constitutes an effective union: for the groom to give the bride something of value, such as a ring, to sign a Ketubah, <\/em>a Jewish wedding contract, and to consummate the marriage.<\/p>\n

But according to the available texts, Maimonides claimed only the last two were effective biblically. For generations, scholars puzzled over this. Had the great Maimonides erred? Or had his words been misinterpreted? Was this perhaps a sign of a scribal error?<\/p>\n

Perhaps the original document could help solve a centuries-old riddle.<\/p>\n

However, Maimonides\u2019 writings\u2014tens of thousands of pages\u2014are stored deep in the vast archives of the Vatican. The Vatican was reluctant to put such old, fragile documents on display. Oh, how I prayed to gaze upon those sacred texts myself!<\/p>\n

In 2002 I was invited to present an award at an international medical ethics conference in New York City, to a doctor who had dropped everything to be of service at Ground Zero on September 11. The award was named for none other than Maimonides.<\/p>\n

The teacher in me couldn\u2019t resist telling the attendees about the special significance behind their recognition. I told them how Maimonides was one of the first scholars to strike a balance between science and religion, to see the spiritual dimension in medicine. How he wrote a Physician\u2019s Oath similar to the Hippocratic Oath doctors recite today.<\/p>\n

Afterward, a man rushed up to me. \u201cThat was fascinating,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m Jewish, but I\u2019ve never heard of Maimonides.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you a doctor?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n

He laughed. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cMy name\u2019s Gary. I\u2019m actually one of seven Jews ever knighted by the pope\u2014an honor given to me after I was instrumental in the Vatican obtaining a charitable donation of very expensive medical equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know the pope?\u201d I interjected. \u201cThe Vatican is where many of Maimonides\u2019 writings are kept. I\u2019d give anything to study those manuscripts.\u201d<\/p>\n

His smile widened. \u201cI can\u2019t promise anything, but I\u2019ll make some inquiries. I was supposed to be somewhere else today, then at the last minute that fell through and a friend I hadn\u2019t talked to in years invited me to this conference. Lucky coincidence, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

Luck? Coincidence? <\/em>I shook my head. \u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cIt feels a lot more like bashert<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cB-what?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Yiddish,\u201d I explained, \u201cfor seeing God\u2019s hand at work in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t count on any miracles yet, Rabbi,\u201d Gary said.<\/p>\n

I knew I shouldn\u2019t get my hopes up. I had no idea how much pull he really had. Would the pope himself have to give his okay? Weeks went by. I stopped expecting to hear from Gary. But one day my office phone rang. Gary.<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi,\u201d he said, \u201cpack your bags. The pope, along with a group of cardinals and the head of the Vatican library, wants to meet with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about the Maimonides?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019ll definitely be time for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hung up the phone in disbelief. I imagined holding the great scholar\u2019s manuscripts in my hands, searching through the pages of dry, aged parchment. There was no time to waste. I had to prepare.<\/p>\n

I sought advice from several prominent rabbis about what pages to study first. The answer never varied. \u201cHis writing on marriage.\u201d \u201cThis is huge,\u201d I heard over and over. \u201cMay God be with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

At last, the day arrived. After a meeting with the pope, Father Farina, head of the Vatican library, ushered me into a small climate-controlled room. \u201cOnly a select group of people have been in here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

My hands trembled with excitement. \u201cWill I need gloves to handle the pages? How many hours will I have?\u201d I asked. I wanted to breathe in the smell of the parchment, trace the lettering with my fingers, to immerse myself in Maimonides\u2019 world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Rabbi. There may have been a misunderstanding,\u201d the Father replied. \u201cThese documents are very fragile; we can\u2019t take them all out. We\u2019ve pulled five random pages for you to look at. They\u2019re under glass on the table in front of you. Please take a few minutes to enjoy them.\u201d<\/p>\n

I forced a smile, but inside I was crushed. I\u2019d felt so sure God had led me here. A few minutes? Five measly pages? Out of tens of thousands?<\/p>\n

I went to the first manuscript, my mind clouded with disappointment. It took a moment before I could focus on the faint Hebrew lettering. I read the first sentence, then the next. Then stopped.<\/p>\n

Slowly, I reread them word by word. There was Maimonides\u2019 treatise on marriage. He listed all three conditions. Each, he wrote, was biblically ordained. I\u2019d solved the riddle. A historic discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cImpossible,\u201d I said. \u201cHow could you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d the Father said. I told him the story. When I finished, the Father nodded. \u201cThen you know the answer,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s bashert.\u201d<\/p>\n

A chance meeting at a medical ethics conference, a page of parchment selected randomly from thousands of possibilities. A miracle\u2014one that led to the Vatican agreeing just a few years later to the first exhibition of Maimonides\u2019 work in an Israeli museum.<\/p>\n

No, the world isn\u2019t always as it seems. A hand behind it guides us to answers we seek. I\u2019m sure of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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