Forty Years Together-Bashert

Exactly forty years ago 12 Nissan we stood on the roof of a building  overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. We stood under a chuppa that was my tallit and I said "harei at mekudeshet li", you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moshe and Israel..

So much has happened in those four decades. Twenty years of raising six children and  settlement building in the Golan Heights. Then moving to Rechovot where I dedicated myself to learning Torah while Risa continued  taking care of the home and supporting the family.

There is a Yiddish expression-"bashert" which roughly translated means "destined". It is often used to express the idea that this couple wasw "meant for each other". That is how I always felt it was with Risa and myself.. We have been together from the first time we met on a Shabbat afternoon in Ellul. It was clear to me from the very beginning that this was bashert. As Chazal said, "Forty days before conception a heavenly voice proclaims'The daughter of so and so is meant for the son of so and so.In this case the daughter of Avraham Ben Efraim for the son of Elchanan ben David.