I didn’t think you did, I think Oomis did (although she may not have realized it). I still think your argument needs explanation. It’s hard to blame an increasing (l”a) divorce rate on a particular style of dating when the increased rate is not only found amnng the grup with such a practice.”
Daas Yochid, I don’t believe I said that or even implied it. My children’s friends are not Yeshivish in the sense that we think of. They are more what one would call MO Machmir, and they DO date through the shidduch system. So, FTR, many of the couples with whom I am personally acquainted, who divorced after a very short marriage, are not necessarily Yeshivish, though more than a few, are. The one thing they all have in common, is a really short dating period or only a few weeks’ worth prior to becoming engaged. And one would be extremely naive or blind to refuse to acknowledge that the rate of divorce has risen mightily in the last decade among Yeshivish couples. Divorce has R”L risen among all segments of the Frum population, from the most modern to the most chareidi.
It is a sad fact, and though I do not claim to have all or even ANY of the answers and I realize that marriages can fail no matter what one does to try to prevent that from happening, I don’t think it hurts to slowly get to know a prospective chooson or kallah over the course of a few months, not mere weeks. I guess we will have to agree to respectfully disagree.