Hundreds of religious-Zionist singles have signed a letter to their leading rabbis and other prominent figures, asking for the institution of a new/old practice of paying matchmakers. This, they feel, will encourage qualified people to offer more shidduchim (potential matches).
"The problem of the growing number of singles is well-known," the letter states. "One of its causes is that we rely almost totally on favors; we hope that our friends and relatives will offer us shidduchim. But it turns out that even something so important as this, if it is dependent only on good-will and favors, does not work so well."
"As time goes on, more and more young men and women of the religious-Zionist public reach the age of 30 or more without yet being privileged to get married. It is surprising and sad to hear that a not-small portion of them barely even receive any offers of potential matches."
"There is one solution that we have been afraid to adopt, but which works well in the hareidi-religious sector. That is, to pay the shadchan (matchmaker). There is a fear of commercializing and cheapening such a sensitive issue, but if we examine the issue sincerely, we will conclude that the benefits far outweigh the losses. The idea is to create a mechanism by which to push those who can do the job well to do it faster, sooner, and more efficiently."
Getting down to brass tacks, the letter stipulates 2,500 shekels (nearly $600) as the price to be paid by each side for a successful match.
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, the rabbi of Har Brachah in the Shomron and an organizer of many singles' events, says that he believes it's a good idea: "Making a shidduch is not an easy task. It means being involved at various stages, and sometimes people are hurt in various ways - causing matchmakers to give up and leave it to others... A payment would definitely encourage the good people to remain in the business."
Rabbi Melamed said, however, that the sum of 2,500 shekels might be too high for many, and should rather be linked somehow to the entire cost of the wedding.
Chananya Weismann, founder of a U.S. organization called End the Madness, has proposed a similar idea, but one that would specifically encourage high-quality matchmakers. The idea is for the matchmaker to offer $20 to a single for a first-date, which the matchmaker would lose if the first date does not lead to a second date.
When "proposing a match between two singles," Weismann writes, "the shadchan says, 'I am so confident that this is someone you should meet that I am giving you $20 to help pay for the date. If you decide to see this person again, give me back the $20. If you ultimately marry this person, then pay me $2,000.'”
This arrangement, Weismann feels, would encourage the matchmakers to carefully research their suggestions, and not offer half-baked ideas with little potential. It would also cause the singles themselves to treat the shidduch seriously, and invest their own energy, time, and money on it.
Rabbi Melamed liked this idea as well, but proposed that the $20 "down payment" be lowered in accordance with the amount of dates that one of the sides has already rejected.
Other ideas to alleviate the shidduch crisis appear here.