Ultra-Orthodox Matchmakers Will Get $4,000 For Pairing ‘Damaged Goods’ Over 21

A bride and her grandfather dance at an ultra-Orthodox wedding in Jerusalem in 2012. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman August 10, 2017

The grand rabbi, or “rebbe,” of the Boyan sect of ultra-Orthodox Jews is offering $4,000 to anyone who suggests a successful match between “older singles” in their community, the Israeli news site Arutz Sheva reported Wednesday.

The “older” designation applies to single men over the age of 23 and single women over the age of 21. Arutz Sheva noted that Hasidic Jews who do not marry before 23 are often derogatorily referred to as “damaged goods.”

The rebbe of the Belz Hasidic sect, which numbers over 7,000 families across the world, recently adopted a $1,000 finder’s fee for matches of “older singles” as well. The Skver sect, in the U.S., gives $3,000 for similar matches.

The Boyan rebbe, Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer, announced the new fee at a meeting with the community’s matchmakers in Jerusalem on Monday.

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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