In Yiddish, the word “Bashert” means ‘perfect match’, but is commonly referred to as one’s ‘soul mate’. However, being a microscopic community when compared to the populations of other major faiths, finding a Bashert, especially among the Jewish Diaspora, can be rather difficult.

While Jewish singles living in close-knit communities of large cities and urban areas do not face dating problems, rural Jewish communities with little or no access to synagogues or other Jews, usually do. This is precisely where online Jewish dating services can be one, if not the only, way for Jewish singles to meet and interact with other Jews.

Parental influence and faith

As an integral part of their upbringing, most Jewish children, particularly those of orthodox Jews, are ingrained with the importance of choosing dating and marital partners within their faith by their parents. The objective is to make their children realize the sacred responsibility of being practicing Jews, and the importance of marrying a person who shares the Judaism faith, in order to ensure that it (Judaism) is passed on to the next generation.

Drawbacks of matchmaking

Jewish dating problems are compounded by the fact that outside Israel, the Jewish Diaspora is microscopic in size resulting in extremely limited opportunities for Jewish singles to meet other members of the faith. In view of this, Jewish singles have either relied on Jewish personals in newspaper columns to find dating/marital partners, or the matchmaking efforts exerted by the local rabbi, family members, relatives, and close friends. However, the main drawback of matchmaking is the extremely small number of prospective dating or marital partners that can be contacted. Moreover, those available may not practice the same form of Judaism as you do.

The benefits of online dating

As opposed to matchmaking, online Jewish dating services have global reach and presence, and can connect you to thousands of prospective Jewish dating/marital partners. Today, Jewish singles have the luxury of selecting from numerous online Jewish dating services, the largest ones being in the United States. Membership runs into the millions, so there are far better chances of finding your life partner rather than relying on matchmaking or insignificant, Jewish personals inserted in newspapers. The process is simple. You simply sign up; post a personal profile with specific information about you; not forgetting to upload your recent picture. Then sit back and take a closer look at other members’ profiles and contact the ones that seem attractive to you. Who knows, while you wait, other members will be viewing your information … and your Jewish love (Bashert) could be just a click away.

What’s more, most online Jewish dating sites have chat boards via which you can interact with a large number of Jewish singles in a friendly and informal manner. If you’re in luck’s way, chances are, you may even meet your soul mate.

One thing’s for sure, by availing an online Jewish dating service, you won’t need to sing out loud – “Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match” … remember that catchy song in the famous hit film Fiddler on the roof?