The classic “Fiddler on the Roof,” is one of the many movies that could be considered a “Jewish film” and one of the many parts of the film is the idea of a matchmaker. "Fiddler on the Roof" is one of my favorite films and plays but everytime I see it and I think about being set up by a matchmaker and what that must have been like I appreciate the fact that a matchmaker is not something that is such a common practice in todays society. A matchmaker was something that was very popular at the time when my great grandparents got married and is a phenomenon that has declined over time, or has it? JDATE, a Jewish dating site where one can pay to have a profile and receive matches, is on every Jewish website as an advertiser. It is a very popular site and one that is geared specifically for Jewish matches. Is JDATE the new matchmaker?
I have heard so many people talk about JDATE, whether they have had a good or bad experience from it… but when I thought about the essence of JDATE, I thought of a matchmaker. While it is not an actual person doing the matching, it is a computer. Based on your own information you are matched with people of similar backgrounds, likes, and interests. Has the phenomena of a matchmaker become a phenomena based within a computer?
While I know a lot of people who have had a lot of success finding someone on JDATE, it still seems kind of funny that people pay to meet someone online and when my grandmother used to talk about her parents and their matchmaker experience I often used to laugh. I used to say “a matchmaker that is so silly, I would never want to be matched by someone else”, but look at all the people who spend so much money on sites like JDATE to meet someone. My family has seen that sometimes JDATE does work. My cousin Andy met his wife Jill on JDATE. They both created profiles after having some not so good dating experiences just to see what would happen. Well within about 3 weeks they were matched with each other and within a year of their dating there were married and now they have twins. However not everyone finds success on JDATE.
This is the difference between JDATE and what a matchmaker was in the time of my great grandparents. If the matchmaker made you a match you took it. My grandmother used to tell me stories of how the matchmaker for her parents matched them up and originally neither of them was happy but they grew to love each other and have a wonderful life. However, now days on JDATE if someone winks at you or looks at you, it is very easy to reject them if you aren’t interested.
Overall, I think JDATE can be used in great ways and it is a fantastic idea if you think about the magnitude of a dating site like that. It is truly a million dollar idea. As funny as I thought the idea of my great grandparents being set up by a matchmaker was I can no longer comment because JDATE has taken the idea of a matchmaker to a whole new meaning.
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2 comments:
Your comment that JDate is a "truly a million dollar idea" is right on and this is one of the reasons I have become skeptical of it more recently. In seeing billboards for the site in New York City, I feel as though the site is trying to move away from a more niche market to a more visible and nonexclusive one. As I've never really played around on the site, I can't comment fully but I see it as another site that is more along the lines of a social network rather than a dating and matchmaking site.
I would agree here. Why are you compelled to decide whether JDate is good or bad? And how exactly is it like matchmaking? Might you also be able to look at the site as a way for people to capitalize on Jewish communal anxiety in order to make a buck (just like other dating sites capitalize on the anxieties of other groups)? For other sites, see: http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/nicheonlinedatingservices.html
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