By Rabbi David Ashear
Rafi* always claimed that he wanted to get married but “things never worked out” for him. After he turned forty, his family and friends began to despair. Despite their best efforts to introduce him to eligible women and talk some sense into him, he remained unattached. There was nothing left for them to say to convince him to settle down.
But, as always, Hashem’s yeshuah can come in the blink of an eye. Rafi traveled out of state with his associates to participate in a series of meetings over the course of two days. Toward the end of the negotiations, David,* the businessman they had gone to meet, said to Rafi, “I want to ask you a question. Why aren’t you married yet?”
Rafi was taken aback by the sudden, very personal inquiry. He stammered a vague reply. “Things just never worked out.”
David would not give up. “What are you looking for in a wife?”
Rafi mentioned several qualities he hoped to find.
“Do you mean to tell me that you never met a woman in the past twenty years with those qualities?” Jack asked incredulously.
“Well, actually, I did, about five years ago,” Rafi admitted, “but it didn’t work out.” Rafi tried to change the subject, but David would not let him off the hook.
“Do you mean to tell me there’s a girl out there that matches what you’re looking for and you’re still not married? You’d better go find her and stop wasting time!” They concluded the business deal and Rafi and his associates traveled back to their hometown.
Rafi could not get David’s words out of his head. Everything he said was so obvious, but it had never clicked in Rafi’s brain before. He made some inquiries and discovered that the girl was still single. Two months later, they were engaged. Rafi’s family and friends were in awe of the sudden turn of events. The same words they had been saying for years did not do anything, but a few words from a random individual changed everything. (Excerpted from the ArtScroll book –“Living Emunah on Shidduchim”)
Reprinted from the Parshas Eikev 5784 email of The Weekly Vort.
