JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Senior rabbis in the Religious Zionist community, organized under the association of “Torat HaAretz HaTova,” published an official letter this week calling for urgent action regarding the phenomenon of late marriage, according to an Arutz Sheva report.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
According to them, young men and women should receive significant emotional, halachic, and practical guidance already in their formative years within religious and educational training frameworks.
The rabbis emphasize that establishing families is a supreme value in the Jewish people, and they call to encourage and empower anyone who can contribute to advancing matchmaking efforts. The letter is directed to heads of yeshivot, seminaries, and pre-military academies, recommending that they introduce content on relationship education and personal guidance at early stages.
The rabbis also propose appointing matchmakers within educational institutions who will devote time and resources to accompany the young men and women. At the same time, they call on graduates of these systems to approach matchmakers or professional counselors for personal guidance in building healthy relationships.
In addition, the rabbis note that matchmakers who successfully help create a match should be given respectable compensation, stressing that this is a profession requiring experience and sensitivity.
In the final part of the letter, the rabbis state that young people should be encouraged to marry as early as possible: “Ideally, one should marry even before combat military service and before beginning academic studies.”
According to them, encouraging early marriage may significantly reduce the scope of late singleness within the Religious Zionist community.
Each late year or two costs one child, on average.
Chazal said ben shmone esre lechupah, while promoting even earlier in numerous other places. Let’s listen to Chazal.