The decision to spend one’s life with a very specific woman or a very specific man is probably the most important worldly decision a person can make. In Judaism, marriage is additionally regarded as a means of perfecting the soul. Ideally, therefore, one undertakes the journey through married life with a “soul partner,” the “bashert,” as it is called in Yiddish.
Biblical sources
The spiritual concepts of Judaism all stem from the Bible. They were then elaborated in the Talmud and practically unfolded by the rabbis over the centuries. The idea of the bashert—a predestined partner—is based on various verses in the Tanakh.
In Genesis 24:50, Laban and Bethuel say regarding Rebekah’s union with Isaac: “This matter comes from the Lord.”
In the story of Samson, when his marriage is being arranged, it says: “His father and his mother did not know that it was from the Lord” (Judges 14:4).
King Solomon recognizes: “House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife...
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