FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 | 21

T

here’s a famous story: 
A Roman once asked 
Rabbi Yosi, “How has 
your God been occupying him-
self since He created the world?” 
“He’s been bringing destined 
ones together,
” Rabbi Yosi 
answered. 
“That’s it?!” The Roman 
laughed. “I could easily do that!” 
She ordered her manservants 
and maidservants to line up 
… and then married them to 
whomever they were standing 
across from. 
The next day, the couples 
were banging at her door, 
bruised and beaten, all of them 
declaring, “She’s not for me!” “I 
can’t stand him!” and “I refuse 
to be married to this person!”
The Roman conceded that 
making happy matches was a 
lot harder than it looks, and 
it made sense that Hashem 
was spending so much of His 
time bringing destined couples 
together.
Even today, hearing how cou-
ples first connected can have us 
marveling at the Yad HaShem 
(hand of God). 
Take Zach Trosch. “I attend-
ed Hillel. The usual trajectory 
of a young Jewish guy from 
West Bloomfield,
” Zach said. 
He studied politics at Brandeis 
University in Massachusetts.
Deborah “Debbie” Holzer 
grew up across the country, in 
Brookline, Massachusetts, just 
outside Boston. She studied psy-
chology … also at Brandeis.
Their paths had never crossed 
until one fine day, in early 
November 2009, a mouse trap 
snapped in Debbie’s college 
room. 
“We had a mouse problem,
” 
Debbie said. “
And, suddenly, I 
had a dead mouse in my room! 
I freaked out! There was no way 
I was going to touch it … and 
none of my roommates wanted 
to either.
”

Zach, who resided in a dorm 
across campus, happened to be 
hanging out with some friends 
nearby. He went downstairs for 
a break and to buy a drink from 
the vending machine.
At that moment, a panicking 
Debbie ran out of her room, 
looking for the RA or anyone 
who would be willing to remove 
that dead mouse from her room. 
She stopped the first guy she 
saw, who happened to be near 
the vending machine, holding a 
newly purchased Coke. 

“I know this is going to sound 
weird,
” Debbie began. “But I’ve 
got a mouse in a mouse trap, 
and I need someone to take it 
away.
”
“Do you have gloves?” Zach 
asked. Debbie did, so he chival-
rously followed her to her room, 
donned the gloves, removed the 
mouse, washed his hands and 
left without further ado. 
Once she’
d calmed down 
from the unsettling incident, 
Debbie wanted to contact Zach 
to thank him, but all she knew 

was his first name and that, 
like her, he was a sophomore. 
She spent Thanksgiving break 
searching for him on Facebook, 
narrowing down all the Zachs 
until she’
d found the right one. 
“I was the girl you removed 
that mouse for …
” Debbie’s first 
message to Zach began; soon 
they were chatting regularly. 
Eventually, Zach invited her 
out for coffee, but Debbie said 
she doesn’t drink coffee, only 
tea. 
“Kind of awkward,
” Debbie 
said. Still, they kept talking, had 
their first date in December 
2009 (playing pool in the games 
room, no coffee!) and, by the 
time finals rolled around, were 
seeing each other daily. 
The best part: Zach and 
Debbie discovered they were 
both born at Yale New Haven 
Hospital and were even deliv-
ered by the same doctor just 
nine days apart while both of 
their fathers were doing their 
residencies at Yale.
By January 2010, they were 
“official” and, in June 2017, they 
married, with bride and groom 
mice taking credit for the shid-
duch atop their wedding cake.
“Mice are special to us now,
” 
Debbie said. The first year they 
were together on Halloween, 
they dressed up as a mouse and 
cheese. Both of their daughters 
wore little outfits that had a 
picture of a mouse when they 
first came home from the hos-
pital. The family lives in West 
Bloomfield.
“The funny thing is I can’t 
imagine my husband touching 
a dead mouse now!” Debbie 
laughed.
“Definitely not,
” agreed Zach. 
“I don’t know what came over 
me! … For us, it’s like Disney; it 
all started with a mouse!” 

This “How We Met” column will appear 

biweekly. To share your ‘meet-cute’ story 

email burstynwithjoy@hotmail.com.

All Because 
 of a Mouse

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY
HOW WE MET

Debbie and Zach Trosch on their 
first Halloween together

The shidduch atop their 
wedding cake

Debbie and 
Zach Trosch 
and daughters

