A most unusual match made in Belmonte, Portugal
A Roman aristocrat once asked Rabbi Yosi Ben Halafta, one of the Mishna’s leading sages, a provocative question.
“In how many days did G-d create the world?” she queried.
“In six,” he answered.
“And what has G-d been doing since then,” she asked.
“Matching couples for marriage,” Rabbi Yosi responded.
“That’s it?” she said to Rabbi Yosi dismissively. “Even I can do that. I’ll have them matched in no time.”
As the story continues in Bereshit Rabba (68:4), that night, the Roman women proceeded to pair off a thousand of her male slaves with a thousand of her female slaves. But by the morning, one slave had his head bashed in, another had lost an eye, while a third hobbled around because of a broken leg.
Rabbi Yosi had predicted exactly such an outcome. “It may seem easy for you,” he told the Roman noblewoman, “but for G-d, it is as difficult as splitting the Red Sea.”
G-d must have been watching the recent Shabbaton that was held in Belmonte Portugal, because when it was done, a most unlikely match had emerged.
The mid-May Shabbaton saw Shavei Israel’s emissary to Portugal, Rabbi Elisha Salas, host 120 Hassidic Jews from New York in the town’s newly kosher Har Sinai Hotel. (See our report here.) Rabbi Isroel Nachum from Safed organized the expedition which Rabbi Salas dubbed “an extraordinary and unique experience in Portugal.”
That must be how Chunie Reinhold and Ruth Rodrigo feel.
Chunie, 29, was one of the Hassidim visiting Belmonte; Ruth, 22, is a local Belmonte Jew who came out to provide some Portuguese hospitality. The two got to talking…and talking over the course of the weekend.
Chunie flew back to New York with the group, but knew he was smitten. A week later, he returned to Belmonte and after a few more days, he proposed to Ruth. His family then flew in from New York to meet Ruth and her family.
The wedding will take place in September in New York. Ruth will move to the U.S. to be with her new husband.
Matches between couples of different background happen all the time. So why is this one so unusual? Because the two don’t speak the same language. Chunie doesn’t know Portuguese and Ruth has no English.
During the week that the two were together before they became engaged, they communicated using Google Translate on their smartphones!
It is a modern Internet joke that when you need a quick answer to a question of Jewish Law, just consult Rabbi Google. But in Belmonte, G-d seems to have played a more hands-on role in this romantic example of spiritual Search Engine Optimization.
When the Roman woman discovered 2,000 years ago just how challenging it is to make a suitable match, she summoned Rabbi Yosi again. “Your G-d is unique and your Torah is true, pleasing and praiseworthy,” she said to him. “You spoke wisely.”
Mazel tov to the Chunie and Ruth!
We have a few more pictures below.
