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When I got married, one of the gifts I got from my parents was a small, white, leather-covered book called ''Prayers, Blessings and Hymns.'' Among other things, the little book contained morning prayers, grace after meals, blessings for various occasions, and prayers before retiring to rest at night. Over the years, it was used many times.

When I recently began having trouble sleeping at night, I wanted to have something to occupy my brain if I awoke in the middle of the night. Instead of thinking about problems, I thought I'd memorize a Hebrew prayer to use as a mantra at such times. I chose Hashkeveinu, a part of the prayers before retiring to rest at night, a prayer that I particularly love.

It's not easy to memorize a Hebrew prayer when your primary language is English. I'd been working on it off and on for a while when the little book disappeared. My husband and I looked everywhere. We turned our house upside down, searching every shelf, drawer, cabinet, and pocket several times to no avail. Many weeks passed. Every day, one of us would think of another possible hiding place for the little book. It bugged me until I finally gave up.

''The only sensible thing to do is to get a new one,'' I said.

There are several Judaica shops in my area. One of them is hidden in a walkway between two buildings in a big strip mall. Its name eluded me. If you didn't know it's there, you'd never find it. This shop carries mostly religious books with a few ritual objects. The owner is a friendly man with an accent, probably South African or Australian. He asked me what I was looking for and I told him about the book I lost.

He smiled. ''I know exactly which book you want. Unfortunately, it's no longer in print. However, I have several other things to offer.'' He showed me a little book that had various prayers, including a service that had Hashkeveinu in it in Hebrew and English.

''I think this will give you what you want,'' he said, ''but I have something else you might like as well.''

He rummaged around and came up with a second little book.

''This one has a special prayer, to find a lost object. I thought you might like it,'' he said with a grin.

I took both books, thinking ''yeah, sure, but it's cute anyhow.'' When I got home, I did, however, say the prayer for finding lost objects. The two little books, each small enough to fit in the palm of my hand like the lost book, lay on a stool near my reading chair for a week or so. Nothing happened.

One day, I was cleaning up and decided to put the books away. In my office, I have a wall of books. They are loosely organized by subject. There's a shelf of art and photography books, a shelf of children's books, a section on cooking and nutrition, and a shelf of books on religion which includes many Jewish books. The new books obviously belonged on the shelf with the Jewish books but it was packed too tightly to fit anything more. I took out something that didn't belong there and began to straighten the others before putting in the new ones. Suddenly, the little white book I'd lost fell right into my hand! I had searched those shelves many times before and did not find it. No more than four inches long, it had been sandwiched between two big, black books. Suddenly, there it was!

Excitedly, I called my husband in to see the spot where it hung half in and half out of the shelf.

''Do you believe this?'' I shrieked. ''I can't.''

I held the book in my hand, looking at it in disbelief, awed by the experience. My husband laughed. ''It's just coincidence,'' he said.

I shook my head. ''It's more than that, I'm sure. Too many factors had to come together for this to happen.''

''Like what?'' he said.

''I could have simply asked the temple for permission to copy a page of our siddur to get the Hashkeveinu prayer, but I didn't. I know it's on the Internet, but I didn't use that. I could have gone to another Judaica shop, but I didn't. How likely is it that I'd find a man who really knew a tiny book published so long ago? How likely is it that I'd find this shop without remembering its name or exact location?''

''Not likely.''

''And then I say this prayer that nobody ever heard of and I find the book. If all this had not come together and I hadn't needed a place for the new books, that shelf might not have been disturbed enough to find the book for a long time. I just feel like there was some divine intervention at work here.''

My husband scratched his head. ''I don't think so. Logically, there are only three possibilities, as I see it. First is coincidence. Second is subconscious remembrance of where it was put. Third, if you believe it, would be some sort of spiritual guidance. Since none of them can be proven, it's your decision as to what you want to believe happened here.''

I can't help it. This was all too strange. I think it was not coincidence or subconscious remembrance. I think it was intended that I find the book given to me by my parents so that I might continue to have faith, pray, and find peace from the special prayers in that book.

Toby Rosenstrauch, an award-winning columnist, lives in Boynton Beach, Fla.