Reply To: Arranged Marriages

If you’re categorizing the standard Satmar shidduch as something other than an arranged marriage, you’ll have to explain your definition of an arranged marriage. The standard Satmar shidduch is setup with very little input (in the sense of them choosing who to — or not to — meet) from the boy and girl before the first meeting. They then meet once or twice in their home and make a decision — a decision that was generally preordained as a yes before they ever met.

And that’s more or less the same as its done by most of the other major and minor chasiduses. The old time Sefardim also, even today, utilize something close to an arranged marriage — at a young age, even if their system does differ from the Chasidim.