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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: Zev Sero <A
href="mailto:zev@sero.name">zev@sero.name</A><BR><BR>>> I agree, and I'm
astonished at the LBD's attitude. If anything I'd<BR>have called it
a test which she passed, like that of Dama ben Netina.<BR>But it seems from your
story that this was all hashgacha pratit, since<BR>as a result of the BD's
intransigent attitude when she met her basherter<BR>she was able to marry
him. What a tragedy it would have been had she<BR>gone through with the
giyur, only to find that she had left her "other<BR>half" behind! I assume that
he is not interested in Judaism, so there's<BR>no hope of their converting
together. <<<BR><BR><BR>>>>>><BR>You are assuming something
that is actually a non-resolved issue, much discussed in these pages: that
Hashgacha Pratis applies to goyim. You are also assuming that the
bas kol that calls out "Bas Ploni l'Ploni" designates particular zivugim for
goyim as well as for Jews. I am among those who believe that indeed Hashgacha
Pratis does apply to the nations of the world (the literal definition of
"goyim") as well as to the Jewish people, and I also happen to believe that each
person in the world really does have a designated "other half."
But my impression is that the belief system to which /you/ seem to
subscribe in other contexts -- Chabad -- does not share my view of
how Hashgacha Pratis operates.</FONT></DIV><FONT
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<DIV>BTW I am appalled at the actions of the London Bais Din in this case.
Unconscionable. Even if the lady in question did meet her "bashert" as the
result, which, who knows if the man she married really was her "bashert"?</DIV>
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<DIV>Related question I sometimes wonder about: I know several Jewish men
who became frum after marrying non-Jewish women, sometimes years later when
there were children already, and whose wives later had Orthodox conversions
and are now living regular frum lives with their BT husbands. My question
is, is it possible that when the bas kol said, "Bas Ploni l'Ploni" that the Bas
Ploni in question was not even Jewish at the time of the Heavenly
announcement?! Or is it necessarily the case in each of these
marriages that the marriage is a zivug sheni and that the original, intended,
zivug rishon of the man in question has been left out in the cold in the
inexorable game of matrimonial musical chairs? (Or she has married
/her/ zivug sheni, leaving her present husband's zivug rishon out in the
cold....)</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>==========<BR><BR><BR><BR>_____________________</B></FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="2549db13ee3d26e3b31b4fb0ed517cd3"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>Download the <a href="http://toolbar.aol.com/aolclassifieds/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000004">AOL Classifieds Toolbar</a> for local deals at your fingertips.</font></DIV></BODY></HTML>