You are single but would like nothing more than to find a soulmate, settling into a long-term relationship and maybe starting a family?

Not that you haven’t tried to meet people. Meeting people is actually about the only thing you do during your free time. On the Internet, in bars, at corporate or family events.  As many as you can.  As often as you can. But despite of all this frantic activity, you haven’t found your soulmate yet.  So back you go, on your computer, clicking on what today has to offer in the dating cyberspace. And with every click and its false promise of a better future, your frustration intensifies.

As many of us have observed, it seems more difficult to meet a long-term partner today than it was in the past. Our lives are more atomized than ever.  Our families are often far away, and the Internet — with its abundance of dating sites (which put a seemingly infinite number of potential partners at the mercy of our fingertips) — doesn’t seem to be helping all that much either.

By making it so easy to pick and toss people without giving them a second look, Internet dating has actually turned us into “professional daters”. We have become addicted to the first encounter and are ceaselessly looking forward to the next one. Internet dating has ruined our chance of ever having a deep and meaningful relationship.

Fortunately, for those of us who really want to find their beshert, there is still another way: using a professional matchmaker service.  Professional matchmakers have always had a place in Jewish life and, as surprising as it may seem, they still do, maybe today more than ever.

The professional matchmaker or matchmaking service will do for you what neither your mother nor any internet dating site will ever be able to do: first the professional matchmaker will get to know you as thoroughly and objectively as possible and help you define your desires concerning your beshert. Then he will introduce you to people who have been pre-selected and whom you would have had no chance of meeting on your own. Finally, and most importantly, the matchmaker will accompany you in your search, answering your questions, giving you advice and helping you stay focused on your goal… until you reach it!

So yes, this is an old fashioned way for soulmates to meet.  But let’s not forget that “old” does not always mean “outdated”. Maybe our elders had it right. After all, they didn’t seem to have problems finding their besherts …