Page 348 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

EPILOGUE

Epilogue: Some Personal Reflections

A central concept of the Jewish faith is hashgacha pratit (divine Providence—
literally, divine “personal caretaking”.) What this implies is that everything that
occurs in one’s life is accounted for, registered somewhere, and that you are guided
by God to do the right things. This occasionally materializes in “bad things
happening to good people.” The fundamental Jewish tenet of hashgacha pratit

perhaps finds its most sublime expression in the words of God to King David,
after the latter has expressed his wish to build the temple. God’s reply: “Are you
the one to build me a house to dwell in?” (2 Samuel 7:5). “I will raise up your off-
spring to succeed you … He is the one who will build a house for my Name … I
will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he does wrong, I will chasten him
with the rod of men, and with such plagues as befall the sons of Adam” (2 Samuel
7:12–14).
Similar believes are often shared by nonreligious individuals, however spiritu-
ally inclined, who hold the conviction that each of us has guardian angels to guide
us throughout our life journey.
I believe that each of us is constantly bombarded with clues that point to the
right things to do. Being trained in the statistical mode of thinking, and therefore
sensitized to improbable coincidences, I have encountered in my own life experi-
ence countless episodes, where wrong decisions were made … yet, in hindsight,
seemingly meaningless random events, improbable in nature, could have saved
me from the wrong decisions; if only had I been attentive enough at the time.
Regrettably, most of us have been raised in a culture that does not traditionally
train us to look for such clues. Consequently, these clues are most often wasted as
a result of ignorance and ignoring.
All of the above has been found to be extremely relevant with regard to the
initial hesitation I experienced with regard to publishing this book, as alluded
to in the preface. This hesitation persevered throughout the authoring process.
Yet, as happens to us all, clues rained down in abundance in various forms and
ways that at times were indeed stunning. These clues were expressed in different

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