R’ Yisrael Meir Felman recounted that Aryeh Fink,* a boy from the Slabodka Yeshivah, got engaged, but before the wedding, someone slandered him to the parents of the kallah and they called off the shidduch.
Devastated, Aryeh turned to R’ Felman for guidance. R’ Felman went to R’ Shach and told him what had happened, adding, “I personally know that everything they said about Aryeh is false. What should I do?” R’ Shach offered to personally accompany R’ Felman on the three-hour drive to the girl’s parents’ home to talk to them.
Rabbi Elazar Shach
When they arrived, R’ Shach began to sing Aryeh’s praises. “I heard your daughter was engaged to Aryeh Fink and I want to personally tell you how fortunate you would be to get such a wonderful young man as a son-in-law!” He then proceeded to describe all his great qualities.
After R’ Shach and R’ Felman left, the parents immediately called the shadchan to ask to reinstate the shidduch. In that instance, R’ Shach did not just say, “If it’s meant to be, it will happen.”
Since the parents were fed negative information about Aryeh, it was not logical to expect them to reverse their decision to end the shidduch. They needed to be spoken to first; therefore, R’ Shach made an effort to help. Had the parents remained opposed to the shidduch, then R’ Shach could have said, “It’s not meant to be. We tried.” (Living Emunah on Shidduchim)
Reprinted from the Parshas Korach 5784 email of The Weekly Vort.
