Straight out of Hollywood: How a Haredi dating mistake led to a wedding in Jerusalem (Plus the wedding invite)

In an extraordinary tale of fate and determination that emerged from Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox dating scene, a chance mix-up at a hotel lobby turned into a love story worth telling.

A student from the prestigious Hevron Yeshiva arrived at a Jerusalem hotel for what was supposed to be a standard arranged first date. After spending 40 minutes in conversation with a young woman who was studying law, they both realized there had been a mistake - each was meant to meet someone else entirely. They politely parted ways, but the yeshiva student couldn't forget the woman he'd met by accident.

With only two pieces of information - her seminary name and the fact that she was studying law - the young man launched a determined search to find her.

When traditional channels proved unsuccessful, he took an unusual step: approaching the hotel management to request security camera footage. After being denied, he turned to his Rosh Yeshiva (dean), Rabbi David Cohen, who contacted Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion for assistance.

The mayor's intervention proved successful, and through the security footage, the young man finally obtained enough information to locate the woman.

What followed were several more meetings, and in a crossing of traditional boundaries between Lithuanian (Ashkenazi) and Sephardic Jewish communities, the couple married last weekend.

"If not for that initial mix-up, there's no chance they would have ever met or married," his classmates told local Jewish media. "This was clearly the hand of God at work."