the boy for his amazing qualities even though he has a speech impediment “
I haven’t read all the teplies, so if I am repetitious, sorry about that. Based on the little I have read, Moshe Rabbeinu himself would have not been able to get a shidduch with the family who is concerned about this.
My personal opposition to speed-dating, is that people are very self-conscious and totally not being themselves when in this type of high-pressure situation. I am also UNALTERABLY opposed to pictures being shown to (usually) prospective mothers-in-law, who then make the decision of whether or not a girl is shtotty enough for their precious sons.
In my youth, a blind date was virtually just that. we didn’t see pictures of anyone, and the boy called the girl, spoke to her for however long, and made the date. No games, no hiring of detectives to check into each other’s backgrounds, and no basing a relationship by how many dates have gone by, before proceeding to the next level.
I dislike the shidduch process we have today. I see a backlash to many of its aspects developing, and people are starting to realize that something has to change drastically, because too many people are not getting married at a reasonable age, and from those who are, many are divorcing. The problems we see are in unprecedented numbers. I personally know many young women who have not yet married, and they are lovely, balebatish, aidel girls in their early 30s. I also know several young men in their 20s, who are already divorced (some after less than 6 months of marriage). This is a real tragedy in klal Yisroel.
At this point, I believe that ANY method that works, should be utilized to make shidduchim, even one that is “outside the box.”