Posted on 08/11/22
"Single people are the heroes of this generation," Tzuriel Gabizon declared yesterday on the stage of the Binyanei HaUmah Convention Center in Jerusalem. In honor of the15th of Av (Tu be'Av, Jewish holiday of love) which arrives tonight, Tzuriel had organized an event to which more than 1,500 people had come in search of a lifetime partner. "There are more than 1,500 heroic fighters here," he continued. "This is a sector of the population that no one really counts or appreciates. So we have gathered here, first of all, to say congratulations on waiting, on coping, and on your unwavering desire.
Tzuriel founded "Project 252" for single men and women, choosing this name because this was the number of dates he went out on before he met his wife, Moriah. Yes, 252, as he told the crowd:
"Everyone asks how I never gave up after so many years, after so many dates. There was one idea that accompanied me and gave me strength: "You will draw water with joy from the fountains of salvation." This is a passage from the prophet Isaiah and there is a commentary that we need to draw water now from the fountains of our future salvation. This is true in other areas of life too, not only in the search for a spouse. We believe that ultimately there will be a joyful and happy future for us, that everything will work out, and we can then "borrow" a little from our eventual joy, from our future happiness, right now.
So after every unsuccessful date, I drew water in joy from the fountains of salvation. I imagined myself and my wife with our children, I kept this image in my head, and it gave me hope. When we received the album of pictures from the pidyon haben (redemption of the first-born son) ceremony, I said to my wife: 'You see, these are the pictures that kept me going all those years.'
May all you heroes have a happy 15th of Av."