When looking for their beshert, single Jews have several options.
The first option, which does not involve any spending, is of course to meet the person in a «natural» setting, whether it be at school, in the workplace, while practicing an activity, etc. This would generally be anyone’s best option. But things unfortunately do not always happen as «naturally» as one would hope.
The second option, also cost free, is to be introduced to your beloved by a friend or a relative. Jewish mothers can generally be relied upon to take this responsibility very seriously, but even they have a limited address book and they are not always successful.
The third option is to join an online dating service, such as JDate. This comes at a cost but is generally considered affordable by highly motivated Jewish singles. For the price of a few movie tickets, one can have access to a vast number of available and eager singles’ profiles – and be accessed in return. Getting thousands of possibilities for a few euros has all the appeal of a real bargain and a lot of people go for it. Without thinking at first that the fee is going to have to be paid each month and that there is a good chance that the months will turn into years before anything happens in a major -aka marital- way, if ever.
The fourth option is to hire a matchmaker. This option is not for the faint of heart. It is reserved for determined people, people who are sure they want to find a life partner and who are willing to put all the effort necessary into the project, both emotionally and financially. This option comes at a much higher cost that the other ones. The reason for this is that the matchmaker -unlike the website- will work countless hours to find your match. He will support you, listen to you, talk to you, advise you, nag you, console you, coach you, etc. until you find your match and settle happily in marital bliss. If you don’t give up, he won’t either. And he will put his lifetime of experience at your disposal to select the partners you are most likely to satisfy not only what you think your desires are but who you are really. Deep down.
This type of work, which is entirely different from the workings of an algorithm -which is how dating sites work- is what Simantov offers: personalized, based on human warmth and experience, and with a much better success rate than any online dating site or any Jewish mother. And that makes it a very worthwhile investment.
