A Heavenly Voice Announces
Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Forty days before the formation of the embryo, a heavenly voice goes forth and proclaims: “This woman is destined for this man, this house for this person, this field for that person.” (Sotah 2a)
A Point of Awe
Our Sages say (Kiddushin 41a): “A man is forbidden to betroth a woman until he sees her, lest he later see something displeasing in her and she become repulsive to him.” The word “yir’enah” (“sees her”) can also be read as connected to “yir’ah” — awe or reverence. A man should not betroth a woman until he sees in her a point of fear of Heaven, for otherwise, over time he may find fault in her and she will become repulsive to him. (Imrei Chaim)
Above the Order of the World
The splitting of the Red Sea was a miracle because it went against the natural order. So too, a person’s match is above the order of the world. By their very nature, man and woman are distinct and different, and the power to unite them as one comes from a level that transcends the world. (Maharal of Prague)
An Unexpected Salvation
Rabba bar bar Chana said in the name of Rabbi Yocḥanan: “Matching couples is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea” (Sotah 2a). When the Israelites stood at the shore of the sea, no one could have imagined that the sea would split in two. So too, with a person’s match — many times salvation comes from a completely unexpected direction. (SheHaSimchah BeMe’onoh)
A Great Merit
A snowstorm raged outside. Late at night, when the whole city was asleep, a coachman arrived in town. He was exhausted and soaked, and when he saw a light he knocked on the door and asked the homeowner to let him spend the night there. From his extreme fatigue, he did not notice that the man who opened the door was none other than the Maharsha. “Perhaps you could put my tired horses in the stable and place some fodder before them?” the man requested, and the Maharsha quickly fulfilled his request. When he returned home, the coachman was already fast asleep.
In the morning, the coachman realized whom he had troubled the night before by asking to bring the horses into the stable. In bitter tears, he fell at the Maharsha’s feet and asked for his forgiveness. The Maharsha comforted him with words of affection and said: “You have, in fact, granted me a great merit. May it be Hashem’s will that you live many days.”
