“Dovi Safier has created a new genre, and a credit to the magazine and the talented author who has made it possible”
As a shadchan for many years and a native of Cleveland, I found Sruli Besser’s argument on behalf of out-of-town shidduch prospects to be a very true and important point.
When I suggest an out-of-town shidduch, parents will usually tell me that it’s not convenient. My response: I’ve never heard a smart investor decline to invest in a very big deal due to a convenience issue. I think getting your child married is the biggest investment of your life, and so “convenience” should be a very petty issue compared to the great advantages of our out-of-town girls.
Thank you for a great piece.
Tzodek Katz, Lakewood, New Jersey
As usual, Yisroel Besser’s prose is a pleasure to read, and his content superb. He related that he had just married off his daughter and bemoaned the fact that so many “in-town” families, which he described as belonging to the tri-city area of Lakewood, Brooklyn and Monsey, simply turn to the next page when presented with an “out-of-town” shidduch. He urged “in-town” parents to consider the special qualities of out-of-town girls.
First off, I believe that Besser used an extra-wide brush in painting his “out-of-town.” I don’t think lumping Montreal (Besser’s hometown), Toronto, and Cleveland together with Atlanta, Boca Raton, and Phoenix is accurate. It’s a lot more nuanced than that. Because of their more old-world European cultural flavor, the former three, while perhaps a bit more provincial, still maintain the “in-town” mentality. The latter three are more definitely “American” and consequently, “out-of-town.”
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