According to Jewish tradition, making three matches secures you a place in the World to Come. But the benefits of successfully pairing singles in our community are obvious even in this world. By connecting single Jews, you are ensuring the future of our people. We invite you to join us at our upcoming match-making training session this July and embark on this deeply rewarding journey. Unlock the secrets of boutique-quality match-making and discover for yourself the hidden power of understanding interpersonal dynamics. Know that you are making history-changing differences in the story of our people. Applications to participate in our training and join our new cohort of matchmakers are now open!
See you in paradise?
Entering her final year of Rabbinical Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Dr. Raysh Weiss is the founder and director of YentaNet. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and named one of the Jewish Week's 2015 "36 Under 36," Raysh is passionate about connecting people and communities through mutual compassion, curiosity, and understanding and is especially interested in engaging often-overlooked and under-served populations. Her vision of pluralistic match-making emphasizes the importance of maintaining Jewish diversity in years to come.
Rabbi David Hoffman is the newly-appointed vice chancellor and chief advancement officer of the Jewish Theological Seminary. David holds a PhD from the Jewish Theological Seminary and serves as assistant professor of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture as well as scholar-in-residence in the Development Department of the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is widely-known for his uniquely dynamic and engaging teaching style and is one of the most sough-after teachers of Rabbinic texts in Manhattan and beyond.
Termed “The Orthodox Sex Guru” by a recent profile in the NY Times, Bat Sheva Marcus, is one of the founders and the Clinical Director of The Medical Center For Female Sexuality. The Center, founded in 2000, is dedicated to helping women with a wide variety of sexual issues and has three centers in New York, in Westchester, NYC and Great Neck. Bat Sheva earned her PhD in Human Sexuality at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, CA. She also holds a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University, a master’s degree in public health and a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Bat Sheva is a founding member and Vice President of JOFA, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance and has sat on the board of directors for 16 years. She is a coordinator of her partnership minyan in Riverdale, Shachar and was past chair of the Women’s Tefillah Network. Bat Sheva has lectured internationally on women’s issues and has been a guest on numerous radio and television shows including CNBC, CBS News, Huffington Post Live. She has been written up many times in New York Times, Time Magazine and Westchester Magazine as well as a myriad of local publications.
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Stacey Klein, LCSW is a somatic and integrative psychotherapist in private practice in Manhattan. She specializes in the treatment of anxiety, relationship issues, parent- child difficulties and the integration of body, mind and spirit. Stacey formerly worked as a clinician and supervisor at Mount Sinai Medical Center for 11 years in a wide range of mental health programs. In addition to her practice, she leads workshops for clinicians, yoga practitioners, singles, private schools and the public. Stacey has presented at Barnard College, JCC Manhattan, The Chapin School, The Psychotherapy and Spirituality Institute and The Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy (AAGT). Her greatest passion is helping people discover and embody the unique and spectacular light that they are to the world. Her website is www.therapyinmanhattan.com
Dr. Tova Weinberg’s mother kicked her out of Detroit to find an orthodox Jewish man in New York city back in the early 70's. There she met Mrs. Else Bendheim who got Tova started with matchmaking. She would finance the singles parties and Tova would invite the people. At one of her parties Tova realized she had a good sense of who matches with whom. Tova met this girl at the party for one second and looked at her and told her that she would be for great for her friend Mark. She told Tova that she was crazy cause she didn't even know her, but Tova prevailed and convinced her to go out with him. Six weeks later they were engaged. That started Tova’s career. She was in dental school (and is a dentist) and she matched other couples there together. Tova then moved to Pittsburgh with her husband and started her family, thank G-d. She noticed in Pittsburgh that there was a very high rate of intermarriage, instead of hating it I decided to do something about it and her career really took off there. She matched less affiliated Jews to other less affiliated Jews and from there went into the Orthodox tract. That was 37 years ago and thank G-d, Tova has made over 250 matches. She in fact has lost count. A few months ago, Tova got a picture of a happy family, inside the note was a thank you card, "You made this happen." Tova did not even recognize the people. Today, Tova serves as the chief Matchmaker Advisor for SawYouAtSinai and has introduced hundreds of happy Jewish couples and counselled countrless matchmakers. Tova wants to make it clear, she never makes it happen, only G-d does, and sometimes G-d lets her be the messenger.
Rebecca S. Kagedan is a Licensed Social Worker trained in both psychodynamic and somatic-based therapy. She has experience treating a range of issues including trauma, depression, relationship and family conflicts, and substance abuse. Her treatment orientation integrates traditional psychotherapy with mindfulness meditation and somatic techniques. Rebecca uses a gentle, holistic approach to support her clients' ability to tap into their own healing capacities, access their core beliefs, and facilitate their own transformation. Rebecca has extensive post-graduate training in healing trauma and developmental/early relational wounding.
Rebecca is a graduate of the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, and was awarded the Jacob Goldfein Award for Creative and Scholarly Work for her masters thesis comparing Buddhist philosophy with psychoanalytic theory. Her group website is http://www.nyctherapygrp.com/
"A matron asked [a question of] R. Yose bar Halafta. She said to him, "In how many days did the Holy One
Blessed be God create the world?" He said to her, "In six days." She said to him, "What has He been doing
since then until now?" He said to her, "The Holy One Blessed be God has been making matches..."