ZD – I wasn’t chasvishalom in any way trying to put down the shidduch system. It is just that for me personally at the moment it is not a good system. This mainly has to do with specific aspects of my life that make it impractical for me. Also, I am not in my 20’s, so that makes things very different. At my age, Gedolim are generally in favor of singles’ events even though I imagine they don’t consider them the best method (in general) for young singles who are just starting to date.
I do go to singles’ events occasionally, but they do not have very many of them in the communities in which I’ve been living for the past several years. The Yeshivish world has only started doing these things recently. I definitely see the drawbacks to singles’ events, but I think that they are a good option for me right now personally. I also wish that people would host single guys and girls at Shabbos meals at the same time. It’s possible that it’s not appropriate for young singles, but people should definitely consider it for older singles. I am not blaming anyone; I think that it just doesn’t occur to people that it might be a good idea.
I also wish that the oilam could come up with some other option other than any of the above mentioned.