The Ramban explains that the purpose of the Ten Plagues was to teach that Hashem exists; that He is cognizant of and concerned about all that occurs in this world; and that He is involved in all that transpires here. Most believe the first two tenets of Faith. But many forget the third one - Hashgachah Peratis - Divine Providence.

It is important, therefore, that we pay attention to all of the "coincidences" that occur in our lives and others' so that we realize that it is impossible that all of these happened just by chance. Obviously there is a Guiding Hand arranging matters in this world; and that Guiding Hand is Hashem's.

I was very happy to discover an entire Internet site dedicated to publicizing personal stories of Hashgachah. The address is:http://www.hashgachapratis.com

Following is one of the great stories featured there:

When my wife was a little girl, her mother wanted to send her to a yeshiva. Although her family was not religious, her mother wanted her to have a Jewish education. Not knowing of any other yeshivas in the area, her mother decided to send her to Bais Yaakov. The problem was that her family did not have enough money to pay and Bais Yaakov did not want to give a scholarship to a girl who isn't religious and chances are would never become.

In despair, her mother was told of a man who might be able to help her because he was very involved in the Jewish community. This man called Bais Yaakov and made them a deal. He would pay for her first year of school. If they felt that she was a good girl and had potential, they would give her a scholarship for the years to follow. They agreed!

So my wife went to Bais Yaakov, became religious and is now married to me and we are leading a wonderful religious life together.

I was curious who this wonderful man was who did this incredible thing for a total stranger, but my wife and her family had no clue. But then I finally found out who that man was...MY FATHER! For all those who missed that, MY FATHER paid for a stranger to go to yeshiva, in yeshiva she became frum, and now I am married to her. And neither of us knew about this until after we were already engaged.

This is a perfect example of Hashem putting everything in motion and setting things up the way it was meant to be. You do a good thing, and it comes back to you, eventually, whether you know it or not, but surely.

Shema Yisrael Torah Network
info@shemayisrael.co.il
http://www.shemayisrael.co.il
Jerusalem, Israel
732-370-3344