Neither I nor any of my friends, all frum, all balabatish, met their zivugim through shadchanim such as in the NASI Project. I am not opposed to shadchanim per se, but I am opposed to the process that it has become.
We do not live in the times that existed when Yenta the Matchmaker did her job. Women have jobs, are educated, and do not sit in the house with their kids anymore (though I personally am in favor of being a stay at home mom, but that’s for another discussion). What was done then, was done because matches were made for ALL people, even non-Jews. there was no other way for marriages to be made. That does not mean it is the ONLY right way to make matches. Yaakov Avinu and Rochel had Hashem for their Shadchan. So did Rabbi Akiva and his Rochel.
Blind dates have been set up by friends, family members, teachers, Rabbis and Rebbetzins all along. I have zero opposition to that type of shadchan. I object to THIS type of shadchan, where it is patently obvious to anyone who can read, that money IS the determining factor. “They’ll work much harder for a 30 year old girl for $13K than if she paid only 6K like a younger girl.” How debasing and how lacking in middos this sounds. And the 35-40 year old boys who are not married, or are divorced – they are NOT having trouble finding a shidduch????? And what if they are divorced or widowed with children – should the price go up exponentially? This whole thing makes me feel so sad and VERY disturbed. And I am not alone in my reaction – even AFTER reading that half-baked explanation. BTW, who wrote that explanantion article – I don’t recall seeing his/her name anywhere…?