I SINGLE LIFE

Israeli matchmaker Yitzhak Ardheim
hardly makes a splendid living from
his profession. For him, it's
a mitzvah to make matches.

JANET AGASSI

Special to The Jewish News

g 6 s

o, tell me, do you have a
boyfriend?"
"You're almost 25, don't you
think it's about time to settle down?"
"Why can't you find someone who's right
for you?"
These words, so familiar to single men
and women, can be heard more often in
Israel than almost anywhere else. The
singles scene in Israel is not much different
than in other modern countries, including
singles bars, social clubs, classified ads,
even special psychologists. There are peo-
ple who love being single and people who
despise it.
The difference in Israel, though, is that
the pressure to marry and have children is
so great. Many activities center around
family gatherings. Sabbath dinner and
Saturday lunch, for example, are usually
spent not only with the immediate family,

but with in-laws as well. Marriage is con-
sidered one of Israel's most important
institutions.
The search for the right mate is often
long and arduous, and not always fruitful.
For singles who are tired of looking and
anxious to find, a trip to the matchmaker
is often the solution. Like Yenta in "Fid-
dler on the Roof," matchmakers in Israel
do their best to "make you a match, find
you a find, and catch you a catch." There
are matchmakers for the Orthodox and
matchmakers for the secular. Some of them
charge next to nothing for their services
and others charge hundreds of dollars.
Yitzhak Ardheim, a quiet, religious man
with twinkling eyes and a full beard, makes
little money from his profession. For him,
matchmaking is a mitzvah. A matchmaker
for the past 10 years, he has arranged 32
marriages and, so far, no divorces. He has

