For several years, JDate com (www.jdate.com) was one of the best sites for Jewish singles to place their online profiles and meet others of a similar background and outlook. But this site is one that has recently seen a falling off of subscribers, causing a reduction in profits for the site owner, Spark Networks, in the first two quarters of 2009. Spark owns an array of relationship websites, including www.americansingles.com, www.christianmingle.com, and many other sites for ethnic and social groups. But it’s the Jewish dating site www.jdate.com (situated in the United States, the UK, France and Israel), along with www.jewishmingle.com, that carry most of the weight when it comes to the financial health of the company.

The reason for the reduction of profits from www.jdate.com and the other Jewish personals dating sites might stem partly from the economic downturn that has affected much of the world in recent months. Yet that can’t be the whole story, since all of the other networks, including www.americansingles.com, www.catholicmingle.com, and so on, turned a slight profit. So perhaps there was a flaw inherent in the Jewish dating internet sites themselves that contributed to their losing subscribers and, therefore, income for the company.

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There are many rationales for trying a Jewish dating service. Some are undoubtedly similar to dating services in general, which is the chance to meet a potential partner. One can only join so many reading or hobby groups, or hang out in so many clubs. Many singles today spend long hours at work and don’t have time for a lot of “joining” anyway. And dating coworkers is generally frowned upon. So finding potential partners is difficult. Just as it is in the general populace, finding appropriate Jewish dates can be very difficult to accomplish.

Another prime reason for using a Jewish dating service is to make cultural connections. This isn’t always a crucial factor, as many people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds date and intermarry these days. Yet sometimes you simply must find a partner who shares a similar background and upbringing. This may be a concern more for Jewish singles than for those from other ethnic groups. As well, Orthodox Jewish singles sometimes look into dating services to find a partner of a similar outlook.

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There are many online methods for Jewish singles to find each other, and they range all the way from those Jewish online dating sites that require a hefty paid membership to free Jewish websites that also offer dating services. While one might think that using any kind of “matchmaking” service is passé these days, that’s not entirely true. Some of these sites explicitly refer to themselves with that title, for example, www.jewishmatchmaking.com, while others, like www.jqs.com, don’t mention that matchmaking is part of what they offer.

But does this mean that people who place their information on these sites will genuinely find a perfect Jewish match, akin to those found by women in the old days who went from family to family in the town or village, finding mates for local bachelors or widowers or the daughter of the house? Not quite. It’s not certain that modern Jewish young people would really want that, unless they are very traditional indeed. And yet if this sort of service is offered even on these free websites for dating, it’s clear that the young Jewish singles feel the need for some kind of help.

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Young Jewish people, such as New York Jewish singles, may encounter difficulty meeting people in the city they can date and marry, while still trying to ensure they are dating Jewish people whose lifestyles and outlooks match their own. It may surprise some people to realize that the concept of speed dating was actually initiated by Rabbi Yaacov Deyo for this purpose. These speed dates, along with online dating services, are helping young Jewish people find each other.

Considering that speed dating was invented to help Orthodox Jewish singles meet and marry each other, that might turn on its head the notion that this way of meeting was designed for the more modern, hip, and perhaps even revolutionary young persons. Personals ads were regarded as questionable just a few years ago, even for those whose lifestyle was more open, so something like speed dating may be thought of as too unusual for very conservative young people to use when finding and dating Jewish partners. But on the other hand, with cultural values no longer being clearly defined within one’s own circle, and time constraints making it difficult to meet people in other ways, new methods of encountering potential partners are perhaps needed.

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Spark Networks owns the American Singles dating website (www.americansingles.com) and a host of others, including many religious and ethnic dating sites. Among the religious groups the company caters to are the Latter Day Saints, the Seventh Day Adventists and Catholics, and it also provides the well-known Jewish dating sites, such as www.jdate.com and www.jewishmingle.com. But that’s the tip of the iceberg. Spark owns sites with an ethnic emphasis too, like www.italiansinglesconnection.com and www.blacksingles.com, as well as other social sites for deaf singles, larger women, military singles, and so on.

Spark Networks clearly wants to play a large role in helping people make romantic connections, but at the moment things have gotten just a bit rough. The Jewish dating services appear to have been hit the hardest, with an almost 25% drop in profits by the end of the second quarter of 2009. It makes sense that with the economy having slowed way down, people might cut back on memberships to websites that help them find dates. But the reduction in subscribers doesn’t just come from American singles, despite how hard the United States has been hit by the downturn. With these sites also running in the UK, France and Israel, it seems that the income drop has come from several places.

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Young Jewish singles, with their busy lives, may consider registering with a Jewish dating site as they think of looking for a romantic partner. While it might feel uncomfortable at first to rely on such a service, it could be a great boon to them if they just don’t have the time or resources to go to a multitude of events, clubs and activities, trying to meet someone compatible. It’s worth placing some free personal ads on a few of these sites, at least to augment the efforts they’re making on their own.

Many sites that specialize in Jewish online dating don’t just offer profiles and introductions; there’s a range of available services. The site www.jdate.com, for example, caters mostly to people of faith, offering videos, a Jewish holiday calendar, a Synagogue directory, and a magazine and blog. The site www.sawyouatsinai.com, on the other hand, doesn’t allow members to view each other’s profiles, but assigns one or two matchmakers to work personally with them. Other sites offer Jewish chat rooms and discussion forums, and even Jewish singles travel opportunities.

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