WE FOUND LOVE AT SHABBAT UK
MOTTI ORENSTEIN caught the eye of Deborah Lubinsky at a Shabbat UK 2016 event at Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue.
A year on from the chance encounter, the couple are under two months away from their wedding.
“I’d never been to an event like that before,” recalled Ms Lubinsky, 24, a teacher at Edgware Jewish Primary. “I went up to him and said: ‘We’re the only young people here so let’s hang out.’”
Mr Orenstein, also 24 and a chartered surveyor, remembered being with family members when Ms Lubinsky and a friend came over.
“I actually knew who she was but we hadn’t ever spoken before. It had been years since I last saw her. I thought she was pretty.”
After the event, the couple began messaging each other on Facebook and it was not long before Mr Orenstein plucked up the courage to ask her out on a date.
“The Shabbat after Shabbat UK, we were invited to the same lunch, so we went to that. And the week after that, I asked her if she wanted to come to an Arsenal game with me.
“It was Arsenal versus Bourne- mouth and we won three-one — it was a great start to the relationship.”
Within a few months, the couple knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
“We had a lot of the same friends, which was good. She was modern and religious like me and so sweet and kind.
“I love the way she cares about other people and is so selfless. In this day and age, it is hard to find people like that.”
He popped the question seven months later in Nice, France. Despite anticipating a marriage proposal, Ms Lubinsky was caught off-guard by the timing.
“We walked up to the highest point in Nice to watch the sunset and he proposed there.
“He told me to dress up so I had to walk up this hill in high heels. It was such a shlep and my feet hurt. But it was worth it.”
She admires her fiancé’s “love for his family and understanding nature. He is so kind and also makes me laugh.”
The couple now regularly attend Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue and will be back for Shabbat UK.
“It is going to be lovely and special for us,” Mr Orenstein said.
“Young people think these events are not for them. But you never know who you might meet.”
‘We’re the only young people here so let’s hang out’