Category Archives: JDate

Remember beautiful Dara and handsome Michael’s Kansas City Jewish wedding from a couple weeks ago? Well, Dara’s mama has something to say about her daughter meeting the man of her dreams and the wedding day that came to be! It’s always so special to have a new point of view and there’s nothing like the view of our (Jewish) mothers!

A Jewish Doctor!! Thank You Mom and JDate!

Wichita, Kansas isn’t exactly the Jewish dating mecca, even if you have the most wonderful daughter in the world. I’m not knocking Wichita. There is a nice, small Jewish community, but at the time most of the members were older, married, or still in elementary school, and the few Jewish boys she grew up with were more like brothers than perspective love interests.

Dara’s dad and I were hopeful she would find a Jewish man at KU, but it didn’t happen. Again we were hopeful when she moved to Kansas City, but each time she brought a boy home we began to realize this was not happening, and she made it very clear she had no interest in joining JDate.

My mother, Dara’s grandmother, passed away in May 2009. We were sitting shiva at my brother’s home on Long Island. Towards the end of day three, my brother’s friend engaged my daughter in conversation in an effort to set her up with his nephew. To pique her interest, he wanted to show her his photo on JDate. My niece powered up her computer, loaded the JDate website, and as she was handing the laptop to my daughter, a free membership sign flashed across the screen. In unison, we burst into laughter and screamed that it was Grandma at work already. Dara joined JDate that day, and the rest is history.

I loved Michael from the moment I met him. He was warm, confident, intelligent, possessed a sense of humor, and when he came to NY for Thanksgiving, it was as if he had been part of our family right from the start. My daughter was blessed! She had met a wonderful man with an amazing family that adored her and she adored them right back. Upon meeting them for the first time, I understood why. When my best friend asked me, “So what are they like?” I answered, “I would want to be friends with them even if they weren’t Michael’s parents.” To which she responded, “Wow! That’s wonderful.” Wonderful is right!

About a year later, Dara and Michael were engaged. It was a match made in heaven. My daughter was not only going to marry a Jewish man, but a Jewish doctor! I will never forget the day my daughter called:
“Hi Mommy, are you sitting down?”
“Yes, why?”
“Michael asked me to marry him! I said ‘Yes!’ WE’RE ENGAGED!”

What followed was a whirlwind of planning, shopping, tasting, trying, calling, crying, laughing, stuffing, mailing, eating (best tasting wedding cake ever), fitting, starving, AKA, the best mother-daughter time ever!!

I would describe the search for “The Dress” to be, at first, exhilarating, quickly going from confusing, to what we described as wedding dress blur. You know when your daughter has tried on so many dresses, each one looking more fabulous than the next but not quite “The One” and they all start blurring together and you can’t remember which one has which detail? Well, I kept asking Dara, “How do you feel in it?” and from the top of Mount Wedding Dress Blur, Dara yelled “Why do you keep asking me that? I don’t know what you mean. I feel like I am trying on wedding dress. How am I supposed to feel? Please stop asking me that.”

And then… Then that magical moment happened. She stepped out of the dressing room and we looked at each other both knowing this is The One and the tears began to fall. I know every mother thinks their daughter is the most beautiful bride, and that is the way it should be, but my daughter really was.

There are no words to describe the flood of emotion as I watched my daughter marry her new best friend. Dara and Michael were so happy, the way they looked at each other, we knew everything was going to be OK. I have never seen a couple have as much fun during their wedding ceremony as Michael and Dara. It was a spectacular event, and would have given us enough memories to last a lifetime, but we were not finished.

Although, Michael was born in the United States, his parents were born in Israel, and still have many close relatives and friends living there. Many of them were unable to attend the wedding in Kansas City. Michael’s parents, with the help of his fabulous aunt and uncle, made a second wedding reception in Haifa at the Dan Carmel Hotel, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

It was a stunning affair, truly fit for royalty as approximately 200 family members and friends came to wish the newly married couple much “nachus” and to share in this joyous celebration of love.

So, I end as I began, with gratitude for bringing this incredible man named Michael into my daughter’s heart and head, a man who values family as much as he does life, who calls me “Mom,” and makes me happy to have another fabulous son, but most importantly, who adores my daughter and strives to make her happy everyday.

Thank you Mom, thank you JDate.

Respectfully submitted by,
Barbara Rose