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Drash for Shabbat Chayei Sarah By Adria Rosen - November 17, 2006 There is one idea in this parsha that really jumped out at me. I have always been fascinated with the notion of beshert or fate. This can be seen in Abraham’s search (after his wife Sarah dies) for a "perfect" wife for his son Isaac. He asked his servant to find a wife for Isaac in the city of Nahor. Bereshit, Chapter 24, verse 14 says, "And it will be, [that] the maiden to whom I (the servant) will say, 'Lower your pitcher and I will drink,' and she will say, 'Drink, and I will also water your camels,' her have You designated for Your servant, for Isaac." The idea of beshert rings loud and clear to me in this statement. I have always believed that things happen in our life for a reason. You have the experiences you are supposed to have and are destined to meet people you are meant to meet. I am sure that everyone can think of a personal example or two. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in "The Handbook of Jewish Thought," writes, "The main task of Divine Providence in this world is … to set each person in his station in life ... Some things directly affect the person involved, while others are used to set up chains of events to direct him toward his destiny." A few personal examples: I met my husband at Hillel at the University of Arizona. One Saturday night 30 some years ago, we were both there. I went with a friend and he came there when his swamp cooler broke and the temperature in his house rose to over 100 degrees. He went to Hillel that night because he thought of that as his second home. We met and the rest is history. My older son is now seeing a girl whose mother I met at Hadassah. If I hadn’t been involved with this group, gone to a particular conference in El Paso, if her mother hadn’t attended and told people she had a daughter in Tucson and if I hadn’t said that my son lived in Tucson and gave her his name, would they have met? Probably not. Life is full of coincidences or is it? Beshert is the result what appears to be a series of unrelated events that lead to a million in one outcome. Call it fate. For me it’s beshert. We might not know the significance of what happens to us, but one day, believe me, it will be made clear. Shabbat Shalom. |
