Like many of our peers, we first interacted on an app. This one is called "Coffee Meets Bagel", and cultivates matches for you, so you're likely to have fairly frequent conversations. It was Jake's first chat on the app, while Maya had been on it for a while. One morning, he messaged her that he was "probably the most interesting person she'd met on the app." When she responded, "why?", he said it was because he knew 10 languages and read many newspapers a day. "Ok," she answered, figuring that was the end of that. However, that evening (perhaps for the first time ever), Jake realized that he'd come across as a pompous jerk, and tried again. He asked if they could start over. Intrigued, having never experienced someone with that much self-awareness on the app, Maya agreed. It was a bumpy road at first, since Jake grew up Orthodox and had never encountered a (future) female rabbi, but Maya stuck it out, determined to educate him. Eventually, they met up on the southwest corner of 42nd Street and 5th avenue on a Tuesday evening at the end of September. They had Korean BBQ, and spent hours chatting in Bryant Park. Jake called his mom during dinner to ask her a question, which Maya found very endearing. He also hailed Maya a cab, took her home, and then paid for it... so romantic! Since it was shortly before Rosh Hashanah, Maya was busy with High Holy Day prep for her student pulpit and was worried that things would fizzle since she'd be away so much. However, two nights later, though they were both busy with school and work, they managed to meet up for dinner and the sparks continued to fly. They began texting each other non-stop, and the rest is history.

Jake planned a very elaborate, multi-part surprise proposal. He told Maya that he wanted to have a date night dinner in NYC on a Thursday (her day off) and then meet up with his friend who was in from out of town. Maya knew that Jake had something up his sleeve re: a proposal because he was blatantly texting with friends and family... but she didnt suspect anything was happening on a week night. 2/28/2019 arrived, and Jake was super nervous!! They hopped on the bus to NYC and even saw some congregants en route. They had a beautiful dinner at Bryant Park Grill overlooking where they first met. The ring was supposed to come out with dessert, but Jake could not help himself and began to give Maya a speech about how much he loved her. (Reflecting later, Maya couldnt believe he made it through the appetizer and entree before blurting it out!) Jake talked so much that he didnt even give her the chance to say yes! The ring arrived with dessert. Jake then informed Maya that their family and close friends were waiting for them at a bar a few blocks away!! Dessert was consumed quickly, they called an Uber and then were greeted by cheers and hugs from their loved ones (including a bunch from out of state). It was an epic evening!!!