30 | MAY 23 • 2024 
J
N

I

t’s tough to watch your friends get mar-
ried one by one as the years pass while 
wondering if your turn will ever come. 
When Becky Sinai first met her husband, 
she was 32 — “an older single by many stan-
dards” — and she wants to share her story to 
give hope to other older singles who may be 
reading this.
It was 1997 when Becky, a born-and-bred 
Southern girl from New Orleans, moved to 
Michigan on a temporary assignment. She 
lived in Grand Rapids for three months, then 
prepared to move to Metro Detroit.
“I knew exactly one person in the entire 
Jewish area. She’s not Jewish, but she advised 
me to move to Farmington Hills. She told 
me, ‘
A lot of Jewish people live there … 
there’s a bagel store and Chinese food on 
every corner.
’ I thought, OK, well, that 
sounds good!” Becky said with a laugh.
As Rosh Hashanah neared, Becky flipped 
through the Yellow Pages to look up a shul. 
Only two were listed. She called B’nai David 
and explained that she was new to the area.
The secretary chuckled. “We’re a bunch of 
alter kakers (old folks) … You don’t want us; 
call Beth Abraham down the street.
”
So she did, and a few weeks later turned 
up at Beth Abraham.

Meanwhile, Jerry Eizen was the beloved 
older single on campus whom everyone tried 
to set up constantly. Naturally, these two 
older singles were swiftly introduced. 
After several chance meetings conveniently 
arranged by Jerry’s friends, Jerry and Becky 
started dating.
Jerry worked 24-hour shifts as a firefight-
er paramedic, so the two got to know each 
other through long phone conversations, 
which would end abruptly when emergency 
calls came in. They quickly discovered they 
had similar backgrounds and shared values.
Twenty-six days after they started dating, 
Jerry proposed. At the time, Jerry’s mom, 
Nancie Eizen, only knew Becky from one 
quick exchange, from a Shabbat dinner a few 
weeks before. Becky had said three words to 
her: “Pass the chicken!” 
Jerry and Becky married six months later 
in New Orleans in the same synagogue 
Becky’s parents had married in.
“Jerry was shvitzing from the moment he 
got off the plane. He even had to change his 
tuxedo shirt at the wedding, he was sweating 
so much,
” Becky laughed.
The wedding was small and haimish, with 
their siblings holding up the poles for the 
chuppah. It was especially meaningful that 

both their fathers, who were unwell at the 
time, were present at their wedding. Both 
passed away shortly afterwards.
Jerry and Becky have three sons of whom 
they’re tremendously proud — Sander, 26, 
who lives in Washington, D.C.; Ari, 24, who 
is moving to New York soon; and Micah, 22, 
who attends Yeshiva University in New York.
“I never thought I’
d still be here,
” mused 
Becky, who had really only planned to live 
in Michigan for a few months and still hasn’t 
gotten used to the winters.
The couple live in Southfield and are very 
happy. “There are only two things we argue 
about — finances and the temperature in the 
house!”
Jerry now works in security, and Becky is 
the director of the Resource Center at Jewish 
Family Service. They chose to become more 
observant than they had grown up and are 
members of Young Israel of Oak Park.
Jerry was surprised when Becky agreed to 
share their story for the Jewish News. “Why 
would anyone want to know our story?!” he 
asked.
“We give what we can,
” Becky explained. 
“We care very much about our community 
and family and friends; we live our lives in 
service to others, and we can certainly give 
hope … Our story is a reminder that you just 
never know when you’ll meet your bashert. 
Things don’t always come as easily as we’
d 
like, but there’s value in knowing that you just 
never know.
” 

This column will appear biweekly. If you’d like to share 

your ‘meet-cute’ story, email burstynwithjoy@hotmail.

Don’t Give Up Hope

“You never know when you’ll meet your bashert.”

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY
HOW WE MET

Jerry and Becky 
Eizen and sons

Jerry Eizen and 
Becky Sinai at 
their wedding