According to Chazal, making shidduchim is as difficult as crossing of the Yam Suf, when Bnei Yisrael stood with raging waters in front of them and Egyptians catching up behind them. Shidduchim is one of our generation’s greatest tests and trials, and the miracle-depending shidduch process makes us struggle with our emunah.

When someone has a physical, emotional/mental, developmental, or social condition or challenge, the shidduch process can be even more overwhelming. But the same G-d who makes shidduchim for those without these extra challenges has also made yours. You may have to network more, have more patience and bitachon, and work harder to find the right shaliach (messenger), but you will wait the exact amount of time Hashem designated, and not a minute more, for your bashert.

Since helping launch Yachad in NCSY’s mid-Atlantic region (Baltimore/Silver Spring/Philadelphia) and serving as the Yachad representative on the National Board of NCSY in the late 1980s, and to my recent extensive professional academic research and writing about physical and mental health issues, I have been involved in helping those who often need more support and resources.

While I will continue to serve as a shadchan for the broader population, I am committing specific hours each week to help foster and facilitate more inclusive shidduchim. I will try to help you, but I am only one cog in a big machine.

It will take utmost faith and great miracles to overcome the challenge of shidduchim, but please do not solely on matchmakers, as we are very overwhelmed. And especially if you are, or represent, a male with challenges; there are proportionately fewer females in this population so it is a “girl’s market”. I encourage you to not only sign up for my services, but to also sign up for Kesher Networks (www.keshernetworks.org) as well as to join the Special Connections (contact Shoshana at +972-55-664-1248).