As I’ve gotten older, I’ve taken a dimmer view of the idea of delaying marriage for any other than a highly compelling reason. In the first place, the mitzvah of p’ru u’r’vu is the first mitzvah in the Torah, which gives it a chashivus unlike any other mitzvah. Delaying any chiuv is a very serious matter and one needs a very good reason to do so, even more so with the Torah’s very first chiuv. Further, in the Mishnah, the age for marriage is 18. Nothing in nature has changed so much since then that it’s no longer applicable. Lastly, in delaying marriages, we run the risk of delaying the growth and responsibility of our children. So, without serious reason, there doesn’t seem to be much good that comes from not getting to the chuppah as quickly as sensibly possible.
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