“I’m a shadchan,” she told me. “I love working with singles. And you know what, you look like a wonderful girl”

A

fter high school and seminary came shidduchim, but I didn’t start right away. I started college and worked hard, which didn’t leave me much time to date. A lot of my friends were under quite a bit of pressure from their families; I wasn’t. In addition, it was complicated. There were so many unwritten rules and nuances about shidduchim, and neither my parents nor I were really sure how everything worked.

Soon after we came home from sem, I decided to visit one of my seminary friends I’d grown quite close to. She lived in a large Jewish city near me, so I hopped on a bus to go visit her. As I settled into my seat on the bus, a friendly middle-aged lady sat down next to me. She was very warm and started talking to me immediately, introducing herself as Mrs. Shein.

As soon as she heard that I’d just returned from sem, she asked if I was already in shidduchim. “I’m a shadchan,” she told me. “I love working with singles. And you know what, you look like a wonderful girl. Maybe you’d be just right for my nephew, he’s looking for someone intelligent like you.”

She was really serious about wanting to set me up, and I was excited. It was so nice of this random lady to be trying to help me.