Roni Meyersdorf, 30, is one of many worthy and eligible girls in Israel who have yet to find their bashert. But there are two things about Roni which single her out from many of her single friends. The first is that she planned for her future and the second is that she planned for the future of others.
Roni lives with her family in Ma’ale Machmash, a settlement in Yehuda and Shomron. She’s the oldest of five children and the only daughter. Two of her brothers are already married and she must be a very beloved aunt to their children because she manages a toy store for a living.
Ten years ago, when a good friend got married, she and another friend put together a book of lists and tips to help her organize her wedding. Since she enjoyed the project, Roni continued on her own to make these books for couples about to be married. The book is a work in progress because she updates it with feedback she gets on how to add to and improve the book. Also many professionals in the field have contributed to the book. Today the book is close to 150 pages long and personalized for each couple (there was even a Corona wedding version) and Roni has arrangements with printers all over the country for couples who want to print the digitalized book at a discount. Roni has distributed over 3000 copies through her friends and her Facebook page. The digitalized book is completely free and, as an added mitzvah, she’s dedicated it to her three deceased grandparents. The wedding planner is distributed to all sectors in Israel from very secular to very religious and helps couples understand the meaning of the ceremony they’re about to undergo.
Roni gets great joy and fulfillment in sharing this book that has helped many a bride plan her wedding from A to Z. The book includes tips – financial, bureaucratic and inspirational. As to herself not needing to use the book, she attributes her still-single status to Hashem. This is His plan and she’s good with it. Not that it doesn’t bother her, she would very much like to be married but she isn’t down about it. She knows that Hashem is THE wedding planner and her time will come. In the meantime, she’s happy for the abundance of brides who use it. “A person comes to this world to do good,” she says. “I see the Geula with my own eyes,”
But just to make sure she stays positive and not too worried about her biological clock, Roni has taken steps towards fertility preservation. Also known as cryopreservation, harvesting and freezing a woman’s eggs enables her to attempt getting pregnant at a later date through in vitro fertilization (IVF) with her own eggs that were harvested when their quality is high, should there be a problem getting pregnant naturally. It’s not something talked about or encouraged enough in the national religious society she is part of and she’s trying to encourage other women to do so as well, while they’re still young. As soon as she hit thirty, she underwent the procedure at Hadassah Hospital’s Mt. Scopus campus in conjunction with the Puah Institute. As women are marrying later due to the shidduch crisis, it gives them a sense of security that they are not compromising their chances of having children. This also makes the guys they date more secure as well thereby eliminating an obstacle for men dating older girls. Of course this comes with a price. One round of harvesting costs the equivalent of $2000. And as with any procedure, there’s no 100% guarantee. But it’s money well spent when you consider the alternative.
A lot of young women don’t consider this, only it’s recommended to do fertility preservation sooner rather than later even with the hope that it won’t be needed. So if you’re approaching thirty, this is the time to think about it.
If you’d like to order the wedding planner (it’s available only in Hebrew at this time) or if you have questions about fertility preservation, you can contact Roni at: [email protected].
And we hope that Roni Bat Tzion bat Rachel Na’ama finds her chattan soon and merits building her own bayit ne’eman b’Yisrael among the other brides and grooms of Israel, with the wealth of information she has shared with others.