Revolutionizing Jewish Dating: Met@Chabad Doubles Team and Shatters Expectations In First Year
In its groundbreaking pilot year, Met@Chabad has expanded its global network, successfully connecting thousands of young Jewish singles and introducing revolutionary tools like AI-assisted matchmaking and personalized dating education. Their values-based system is changing the landscape of Jewish dating.
Had someone told you a year ago: “You know what, I think we can have tens of thousands of young Jewish adults worldwide dating based on a values-based system and with direction from a traditional shadchan,” you probably would have laughed them out of the room. But that’s precisely what has happened: In nothing short of a revolution, Met@Chabad from Chabad Young Professionals International at Merkos 302 has blown through every expectation and is currently bursting at the seams.
The quality of the events produced and the resources created since the project’s launch is remarkable. Even more impressive is the number of young professionals who’ve benefited; the results are simply outstanding. Forty percent of participants in the virtual speed-dating events with which the project launched had been successfully matched, and half progressed further to a second date. In just one year, more than ten thousand singles from hundreds of communities in all parts of the globe have signed up to the global network.
But the matches made barely scratch the surface of the program’s sweeping reach. In addition to the sheer scope of singles who’ve found a match, many more are uncovering best practices in dating for marriage, sourced in thousands of years of Jewish wisdom. “We’ve set a primary on education,” explains Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Met@Chabad’s Executive Chairman. “Our goal is to shift the landscape of Jewish dating, to align it with Jewish values.”
When digging through the data, that shift is noticeably underway. Nearly 1200 young adults in 45 cities participated in a brand-new educational program, “The Jewish Dating Course,” created for Met@Chabad by the world-renowned Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. In addition to the invaluable information and ideas gained through the lessons, the course has positioned local shluchim as “dating experts” to their community members, equipped and ready to steer them along a successful dating path.
Beyond the course, Met@Chabad educates through curated, highly engaging content, making tidal waves on social media. Engagement rates approach 9 percent, well above industry standards, and monthly growth of 1,000 new users far exceeds the norm. Most importantly, comments on the videos and posts demonstrate their indelible impact. One video with marriage expert Rabbi Manis Friedman regularly receives comments like “I’ve never thought about it this way. Makes sense!” “This is becoming one of my favorite IG accounts.” “This message is one of those that’ll definitely stick with me.” The comments speak for themselves.
The backend of the heavy lifting on the part of the shluchim is also running full steam ahead. Over 1,000 shluchim participated in intensive training on critical topics such as birur hayahadus and yuchsin. With this critical information, new users entering the database are “verified,” creating the world’s first accessible database of confirmed Jews ready to marry one another.
From the online world to the real world. The results from in-person events—both global and regional—are pushing the limits of the imagination. For example, the 1,632 participants from 7 regions produced hundreds of first-round couples, 11% of whom are still dating as of this publication.
Lenny Morris, who participated in the Los Angeles event, had the following to say: “What a great mix of people and backgrounds! I loved talking with and meeting everyone during the multiple rounds. I think everyone should try it out, even for a single event, to potentially meet their partner for life. Every one of my single friends who hasn’t tried this event yet will definitely be getting a seal of approval from me!”
Even the paid members’ “premium track” is quickly smashing through its nascent “pilot stage.” Over 250 members have joined, each guaranteed an hour-and-a-half personal Zoom session with a registered Matchmaker to help them identify and isolate their core values. The shadchanim spend significant time prompting the algorithm to suggest matches and share info between themselves in real time over a private chat platform. It’s the ultimate pairing of AI with the human touch, producing optimum results.
The results are in: In the last survey sent out, 600 singles responded with high satisfaction levels; 78 couples are currently dating as of the time of publication. Of those who attended events, 82% said they would attend another event. Overall, over 80% of singles feel that “both their personal preferences and their long-term values are well-served.”
According to Rabbi Beryl Frankel, Director of Chabad Young Professionals, the program’s explosive growth is thanks to a few behind-the-scenes powerhouses. “Our amazing team at CYP International is in touch daily with shluchim, integrating their feedback into the product. That is how we’ve managed to take a vision and make it a runaway success.”
The secret sauce of Met at Chabad is the inclusion of personable, professionally trained shadchanim, who do the hard work of pairing people every day. When first introduced, the original seven Met@Chabad Matchmakers seemed like an abundance, but they quickly became oversaturated by the demand. Over the past few months, the team has doubled; seven more Shadchanim have joined to help young Jewish professionals find their soulmates.
“I think it’s an amazing platform, quite unlike the other apps,” said Jessica Klein. “I like that it’s connected to my rabbi and rebbetzin, so if I had questions or worries, I could go to them.”
