June 2024, Starbucks.

As I sipped my iced cappuccino while attempting to ferociously type on my laptop while conducting an interview for my first Jewish Link article, little did I know that in a few months I would have the opportunity to take part in a significant mitzvah.

My piece, which was titled “Gavi: An Orthodox Singer-Songwriter Makes His Way in the Pop Music Industry,” revolved around the life and career of Gavi Zahler, a talented young artist from West Hempstead.

You know those people with whom you just become friends in an instant? The ones you feel you have known for a long time, even though it’s only been a few minutes? Well, Gavi is one of those individuals.

As our friendship developed, the topic of conversation unsurprisingly turned to dating, and by the time the end of the summer rolled around, I asked him the age-old question: “What are you looking for?” In response, he listed several adjectives and described a potential partner.

Of course everything is yad Hashem, but something in my mind clicked and I immediately thought of someone. Surprisingly, it was not a good friend of mine, nor someone I had known for a long time, or had even had numerous conversations with. Rather, it was a girl who had lived on the same floor as I did in the Stern dorms the previous year.

Although Sara Lesczynski and I had interacted several times, as we shared a close mutual friend, I would probably classify our relationship at that time as “friendly.” However, I had just seen Sara at our friend’s Shabbos kallah the day before, and for some reason I instantly thought of her. I found myself reaching out to our mutual friend, Tova, who was getting married that week, and inquired about her good friend Sara. After Tova and I went back and forth several times regarding a variety of issues, Sara and Gavi agreed to go out with one another.

Needless to say, neither of the parties involved had high hopes going into the first date. Regarding initial impressions, neither was especially thrilled with the other. “I knew we definitely got along, and had a good conversation,” said Sara. “But there were many things he said that really rubbed me the wrong way. So I was left very confused.”

On the other hand, Gavi thought Sara was “immature” and “too Gen Z.” “All she was talking about was how much she loves New York City, and I hate the city,” he said.

However, despite everything, “We laughed a lot, and that’s the biggest reason I wanted to go out on a second date,” said Gavi.

For Sara, the decision was less simple. I only found out this particular piece of information months after the fact, but following their first date, Sara sent her friends a four-minute vlog-style video detailing her less-than-stellar first date with Gavi. “I was so overdressed, and he showed up in a shirt, and just, like, pants,” she said in the vlog. “He was insufferable.”

Furthermore, in the early weeks of their relationship there were multiple individuals who attempted to dissuade both Gavi and Sara from continuing.

Needless to say, I was surprised when they both agreed to go out again. And again. And again. Until the end of time.

On March 2, Gavi proposed. “We were driving and we stopped to go on a hike,” said Sara. “We were walking up the mountain at sunset, and he gets down on one knee and proposes with a paper ring, because I love Taylor Swift.”

The musical reference to the pop star is embedded within her song “Paper Rings” in which Swift sings, “I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings.”

Gavi continued the proposal over the course of a couple of days, with a series of different rings, such as an Israeli ring from his grandfather, a dollar store ring and a ring of his grandmother’s. “But I knew he [already]had a real ring, my grandmother’s ring, in his possession, and so I knew that the proposal would be with that,” Sara said.

Sure enough, it was. “We were leaving the park, and we pulled over at an overlook, which is when he gave me flowers and said the sweetest things.”

Since September, and especially in the past week, both Sara and Gavi have expressed their sincere gratitude to me, and The Jewish Link. “Thank you for finding my bashert,” said Sara.

“We love that The Jewish Link promoted my latest album, ‘The Seasonal Affective Disorder:(SAD):Experience,’ and I’m so grateful for finding my bashert in the process,” said Gavi.

With regards to the future, the couple plans to move to Israel this summer. “I’m going to be there on a research grant, for my album concept/project that I’m working on right now that combines entertainment with education,” said Gavi. “Whereas Sara plans on drafting into the army where she hopes to pursue foreign affairs.”

Either way, for Sara and Gavi, the future is bright. Thanks to The Jewish Link.