Jewish dating

Take a guess at which 'Jewish organization' has the largest number of young Jewish members (facebook doesn't count, despite Zuckerberg's MOT status).

It's not YPD, it's not Gesher-City, its JDate. Really. The single largest group of 20 and 30-somethings in St. Louis (and in most cities) is a website that exists purely for Jewish dating, and potentially marriage. It is useless to argue the chicken and the egg about which came about first, the lack of specific programming for this demographic, or the lack of engagement, but it is still interesting that the Gen Yid demographic would rather join a Jewish dating site, instead of align themselves with a community organization or temple.

It makes sense to a certain degree. A friend of mine was recently lamenting the problem of dating as a young Jew, particularly in St. Louis. While its not my place to judge certain patterns of dating behavior (although judge, I do), he raised some interesting points. The first problem is, where are all the Jewish women at? Second, where are the events at which to find these elusive characters in an environment that is casual, conducive to making friends and potential matches, and not awkward?

This is the beauty of JDate. Its all taken care of for you. You don't have to ask all those hard-to-ask questions that qualify a person as a potential match, its all done for you. They say everyone knows someone who met on Jdate. As more and more of my friends get married, I hear about more and more about Jdate's efficacy.

Granted it doesn't work for everyone. I also know several people who have gone on many a Jdate, and while they made a few friends here and there, the results left much to be desired.

Still, what if there was a place, or a stream of events that were casual enough to just drop by, like Mondays at the Muny (free seats, obviously), or Wednesday night jazz at the botanical gardens, meet a few people, share a glass of wine, and let things take their course.

That is the raison d'etre behind the Gcalendar we organized. Its simple, Just click the calendar link to see what is going on around the city. Also, if you shoot us an email, we put you on the calendar, and you can post your own events.

Then all you have to do is show up.

It's not just about singles. The hope is to provide for ourselves, to be the change we wish to see by simply connecting with the other young Jews in the STL metro area, and providing a forum and a sanctuary where we can express our vision for the future.
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Pre Shabbat Fix

As a PSA that I can agree with, JFedSTL has arranged for 15 front row seats to Matisyahu, the hippy turned frum Yid whose reaggae style arrangements and Yeshivish toasting has made him a household name. To throw your name in the hat, click here

From Jewishinstlouis --

Matisyahu Raffle

On Wednesday, June 25th, world famous Heeb-hopper Matisyahu returns to St. Louis for another unforgettable concert. jewishinstlouis.org has ten tickets for the show. Doors open - 7pm. Concert begins - 8pm.--

I, with the help of Hershey, uncovered this recording of Matis playing at Wash U a few years ago before anyone knew who he was. I had the pleasure of attending this concert and dancing my @$$ off. Because this recording was done before he really had press coverage, its a good idea of what he actually sounds like. Props to AWien for recording thing.

G and I interviewed Matis a few years back, really at the height of his career in many ways. He played, at the now closed down Mississippi Nights, to a sold out crowd that consisted of half frum Yids and half regular kids.

I caught up with him after the show, and although clearly exhausted, and with a raspy voice, he explained to us why he is more than a gimmick, and why he chose to say the uncensored Sh'ma prayer as part of his set that night. "That's the first time I've ever done that," he said, barely louder than a whisper.

To summarize, he said, that they say you shouldn't profane God's name if you aren't really saying the prayer, or if it is sung as part of a song, but he doesn't see how it is any less of a prayer if he's singing it, and in fact, he thinks it makes it that much more powerful.


I'll keep searching the interwebs for this interview, as it might be of interest to some. Read More......

Opening Arguements

As a recent college grad, and a transplant no less, I have mixed feelings about St. Louis.

On one hand, its just another post-industrial, conservative-minded, Midwestern layover. On the other hand, the city has been taking some steps in the right direction, there are a few cool bars here and there, some farmers markets, and the nascent skeleton of a public transportation system.
On the other hand, the St. Louis Jewish community is pretty focused on the whole family thing, everyone over the age of 26 is married, has been married, or is trying hard to get married. Its like they take all of the Jews between the ages of 21 and 26 and hide them in some incubator until they are ready to marry off and settle down.

On the other hand, and perhaps the most important hand, the city has potential. Serious potential. On the Yid side, the established community is having a coronary trying to reach out to us, they just have no idea how (more on that later). In this 'small-town-big-city', all it takes is a few connections, and every door in the city is open to you. On the secular side, my contact at the Regional Business Council tells me the number one issue is how to keep us (the graduating and recently graduated)in St. Louis.

Now I'm always down for being sought after (especially by attractive Jewish Princesses, but I digress), but really, its on us to make something happen. . . Really.

I'm not saying we need to celebrate every holiday with a young professionals' service, but we need to network, get out and meet each other. Is anyone else even out there? JDate wasn't so encouraging, but I gotta believe that there is talent in this city and that it can be put to work. Read More......