JDate Success: Jewish Online Dating

There you are again, people watching at the local coffee shop. And there they are, couples walking hand in hand, brandishing wedding rings. Okay, so maybe they’re not brandishing the rings per se, but they might as well be. How do people do it? How do they meet their one-and-only? I’ll tell you a little secret: online! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in a world where everything is just a mouse-click away, so are our spouses. Spend a day at the virtual mall. Fill your shopping cart with books and CDs at amazon.com, head over to Home Depot for a light fixture, and then move along to one of the trillion matchmaking sites for a date. Now I’m not saying that people can’t get dates the old fashioned way, but online dating does offer an alternative.

Though I do have friends whose success stories are based upon match.com and eharmony, JDate is what did it for me. The one caviat in using JDate? You have to be Jewish. Reform, Conservative, Conservadox, Orthodox, Culturally Jewish. Take your pick. You can sign up for any or all as your preference. You can even check the “will discuss later” box…though I do warn against treating this as a trivial piece of information when reading someone’s profile. Here’s a shout out to the Messianic Jew who tried to convert me…another story for another time.

I definitely took advantage of what JDate had to offer: a pool of potentials. I went on many dates, and I weeded through many men. Weeding through for me lasts about five minutes. I mean, come on ladies, you know within the first five minutes of meeting someone whether or not you’re interested. Don’t chew with your mouth closed? See ya. Have an annoying laugh that starts in your belly and works it’s way up through your teeth? Take care. Too short? Not my type. Admittedly, too short is the first thought that came to mind when I watched Adam walk to my door. We ended up having a good time on our date – we laughed a lot, had the same sense of humor, he chewed with his mouth closed – but, well, I thought we were too different in some ways. Adam drove back to VA, a little over an hour from me in MD, and that was that…so I thought. We ended up making plans for the following week. On the way down to his place I called my friend and said: “This is our second and last date. I feel bad that he drove to MD, so I’m just going to hang out with him on his turf.” Seven hours later at 1:30 a.m. I was driving home and on the phone once again. This time I was calling my brother to let him know that, while it might have been something I ate, I was pretty sure I was experiencing butterflies. Fast forward to June 2006 and Adam and I have just celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary.

As for my brother, he joined JDate as well. He had his share of dates, too. The craziest of his stories? He met a girl from Atlanta who was nearing the end of a year-long teaching stint in Hawaii. They talked every day for a month, and he made plans to visit her in Hawaii. Crazy? Yes, but wait. It gets crazier. On his third day there he called to tell me…..wait for it…..wait for it…that he was done with JDate. He thought he had met his one-and-only. Now, being the protective little sis that I am, I promptly thought that he had lost his mind. And then I was reminded of the fact that our parents met and got engaged after five days of knowing one another, married a couple of months later, and recently celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary. Okay, he got me. I had no rebuke. By the end of the trip they were talking engagement and marriage and moving into his place in MD together. Surely her parents had to be sane. Surely they weren’t going to let their youngest daughter marry someone they had never met. Surely they would talk some sense into her. A few weeks and a secret plane ride to FL later, my brother’s request to marry their daughter was granted.

The following week the bride-to-be flew to Maryalnd from Hawaii, and her parents from Florida, to meet the new family. My brother flew to Texas to meet his one-and-only at the airport during her layover and popped the question. Still thinking something was wrong with this picture, Adam and I drove in from NYC for the gathering. And then it happened: I met her. And as soon as I did every protective ember in my body, every you’re-a-lunatic thought, washed away. If ever there were soul mates, it is them. They are so fluid and seamless. They compliment each other well. May I venture a “you complete me” line here? I skipped right through my five minutes of weeding and realized that this was a match made in heaven….via JDate.

So, if there are any wannabe JDaters out there, I say go for it. What do you have to lose? At this very moment, there are 21,743 members online. I just provided you with two success stories in one article, and there are hundreds more on the website! I should buy stock. Good luck, and happy dating.