Rabbi Green* is a public speaker who is noted for giving chizuk to large crowds. He had an eligible daughter for whom he was seeking a shidduch. After doing much research, he zeroed in on Sruly,* a top boy in a top yeshivah, and inquired if he would be interested in meeting his daughter. Although Sruly and his parents found out wonderful information about the young lady, he declined to meet her.
“What’s the problem?” his parents asked.
Wants More from a Father-in-Law than Some Who Gives Nice Chizak Speeches
“I heard that her father gives nice chizuk speeches, but I want a father-in-law to whom I can speak in learning, someone who is intimately familiar with the deep sugyos of Shas.”
Since Sruly had only recently begun dating, his parents did not pressure him to go out with this girl. A few months later, the same shidduch was suggested and again he turned it down.
Rabbi Green was invited to speak to the congregants of Mishkenos Yaakov on a Friday night after Kabbalas Shabbos. He replied that he lived far from the shul and it would be too difficult to walk home afterward. Hours later, having reconsidered, he called back. “Hashem has been so kind to me,” he said. “Now I have a chance to inspire His children to get closer to Him. How could I give up that chance because of a long walk?”
They arranged a date one month away. The Sunday before Rabbi Green’s speaking engagement was the day his daughter was suggested to Sruly for the second time. The next night, Sruly met his uncle at a wedding.
“What are your Shabbos plans?” his uncle asked. Sruly replied, “In yeshivah, as always.”
An Invitation to Come for a Shabbos Meal
“Why don’t you come to us for the Leil Shabbos seudah?” Sruly gladly accepted. The Mishkenos Yaakov shul is where the uncle davens, and Sruly went to shul with him that night. After Kabbalas Shabbos, the guest speaker, Rabbi Green, gave a speech that blew the crowd away.
“Who was that speaker?” Sruly asked his uncle as they walked home together after Maariv. “He was incredible!” When he heard the name, he was stunned. It was the father of the girl who had already been suggested to him twice! He realized he would be privileged to have a father-in-law like that.
On Motzei Shabbos, he told his parents he wanted to meet Rabbi Green’s daughter. A few weeks later, they were engaged. Sruly’s preference had been blocking him from meeting his destined wife. Hashem brought him and Rabbi Green to the same shul at the same time – a shul neither of them ever davened in – to remove that obstacle and bring the shidduch to fruition.
Reprinted from the Parshas Shoftim 5784 email of The Weekly Vort. Excerpted from the ArtScroll book – “Living Emunah on Shidduchim” by Rabbi David Ashear.
