The Professor's Daughter and the Shopkeeper's Son

"My family moved to Atlanta many years ago; my father runs a small appliance-repair shop. We are simple, hardworking people. I was set up with a girl whose father is a well-known community rabbi and a professor of philosophy, and whose mother heads a large foundation.

On our dates everything was wonderful—we understood each other instantly. But when it came time for the families to meet, her parents couldn't hide their distaste. My father showed up in a plain suit and spoke without ornate academic phrases. All evening her mother questioned us politely, but in an icy tone, about our "roots" and which circles we move in. Two days later the shidduch was closed from the bride's side. The official reason was "a difference in the level of spiritual aspirations." But I know perfectly well the real reason: their refined snobbery simply would not allow them to become related to the family of an ordinary tradesman. In theory we are all equal before the Creator, but in practice the barriers of class and money in the community are stronger than in any secular elite club."