MATCH MAKING? THE JEWISH MATCHMAKER IN AN OLD NEIGHBORHOOD

I lived in a Jewish neighborhood for a while and actually encountered a match maker.  A tradition.  Usually a Jewish woman who makes it her business to know who is unmarried, looking for marriage, and who is eligible.  As in the romantic old film "Crossing Delancy Street."

She told me that her services extended to referring men in particular for make overs and especially some better clothing.  (Ah but after marriage either his wife dresses him or he goes back to slovenly looks.)

She said that it is believed in the Jewish faith that if you match make three couples, then you go to heaven.  She had match made two couples.  You see she got into this late and wasn't sure she would go past three.

Since then I've learned that Jewish people seem to put a lot of pressure on their own to be married.  Married is the way people are supposed to go through life, it is believed.  Though there is a LOT of intermarriage with other faiths, primarily Christians, there is also a lot of pressure for the Christian spouse to convert; if a person really believed in Jesus this would be impossible.  But it's thought to be better after all to be unified religiously if you're going to raise children.

There are ALWAYS people who do not marry, for any number of reasons.  Matchmaking works on the problem of actually meeting people in general.  It can be helpful to those who are not too social maybe because they are too busy with education and work.