Soul Mate Predestined According to the Talmud

Because I met my husband first in a dream before I encountered him in waking life I have wondered about soul mates and twin souls.  The dream told me about his home, his dog, his best friend, his work, and showed me how he looked. I was delighted to find this description of a soul mate from the Jewish tradition:

Feeling a divine spark might be what is expected when is one finds their Basherte. Beshert is the Yiddish term for pre-destined. But most people know it in its common usage: A Besherte is the person you are pre-destined to marry via a mandate from Heaven. The Talmud tells us that 40 days before the creation of an embryo, one’s marriage partner is determined. This is taken to mean that everyone has their soul-mate in this world… which is up to them to find and marry.

(From the blog of Harry Maryles at http://haemtza.blogspot.com/)

Mr. Maryles describes the Basherte as an unrealistic expectation of perfection in marriage. I agree that perfection in marriage is an unrealistic expectation even with the “Man of my Dreams.” At first, I did expect he would be a “Knight in Shining Armor” because he had come to my attention as if from the divine. However,  I discovered, that we are very different in our natures and are not a perfect match, except, perhaps, in our very stubborn natures.

We may be souls that were pre-destined to marry before conception. And, there was a sense of recognition when I finally mustered enough courage to approach him. He said that when he was with me, he had a feeling of deja vu.

Part of the divine plan may have been to help us grow spiritually as we worked out our differences, which we have managed to do for 14 years.

Carol Chapman