A Tale of Shiduch Hashgacha
A friend received a personal invitation to attend a wedding taking place at Reb Shlomo’s shul that night. It would be a great zechus to attend this wedding, he was told, as there was a special story behind it. The man happily agreed, and after the wedding was over, Reb Shlomo told him the following story.
A while back, Reb Shlomo was on a flight and got up to ask for a drink of water. To his amazement, he saw a stewardess standing in the back davening intensely, with a siddur in her hand. After she finished, he said, “I saw you were davening, I never met a religious stewardess before.” The woman replied, “Actually, I converted to Judaism,” and she proceeded to tell Reb Shlomo her story. It was clear that the stewardess was both deeply sincere and passionate about her commitment to Yiddishkeit.
The young woman then asked Reb Shlomo if he could possibly help her with a delicate situation. A friend of hers had set her up with a nice Jewish man, and after a few dates it was obvious that they were perfect for each other. However, when his parents found out that she was a convert, they forbade their son from seeing her any more. “Maybe if you give his father a call, you could change his mind?” she asked.
Reb Shlomo happily obliged, but when he called, the father immediately responded, “It is not subject to discussion. I have only one son, and being that I went through the war, I have a responsibility to my family who perished to carry on the tradition in the best way possible. This does not include my son marrying someone who just became Jewish a few months ago. I don’t know her intentions. I just want my son to marry a nice Jewish woman from a regular Jewish family like ours.” Reb Shlomo tried his best to have the father reconsider, commending the true sincerity of the converted stewardess, but he was unsuccessful, and it seemed the case was closed.
