Remember Pre-pandemic Dating in Chicago?
Remember pre-pandemic dating and how frustrating it was? Dating during the quarantine and the continuing pandemic has been even worse. But fear not, ChiTribe has investigated all the Jewish pandemic dating initiatives on the internet. Via Instagram and Facebook, ChiTribe has been sharing information about pandemic Jewish dating Facebook groups and all the details about local Millenial matchmaking.
Breakdown of Jewish Pandemic Dating
“Post your profile, and share it with your friends. Love could be just around the corner… and if not… the end of the world probably is.” – Corona Cupid Facebook Group
MeetJew
At the beginning of the pandemic, we spoke with the creator of the newly minted MeetJew brand, 23-year-old LA-based NJB Aaron Raimi. He told us how many Jewish college students were stuck at home and he felt there should be a place for them to meet during the pandemic. In less than a week, the MeetJewUniversity Facebook group had thousands of Jewish young people looking for love in a hopeless place. The group now has over 40K individual members.
After this immediate success, Aaron and his team created offshoots of the original group for more diverse demographics of Jews and their interests. They created an intake form to match people with similar interests via email or social media. For an older demographic of post-college, they created a group called MeetJewPostGrad which has nearly 9K members. For single Jews looking for networking and companionship, they created MeetJew Professional Dating.
Over the last six months, MeetJew has shared success stories of couples who have connected through their platform in one way or another. They have created a community for successful couples called the MeetJew Social which consistently grows as the pandemic continues. Whether that means connecting with a match emailed to you, posting your picture on a thread with your location, or even being named MeetJew’s “Corona Cutie of the Week”, this Gen Z Jewish dating network has been hugely successful throughout the US. Find MeetJew on Instagram here.
Other Jewish Pandemic Facebook Groups
Quarantine Cupid
In addition to the MeetJew empire, other Facebook groups have been created to help facilitate Jewish connections across the country and the world. With only 1.5K members, Quarantine Cupid has chosen the lofty goal of helping you find your “Jewish Soulmate one click at a time”.
Corona Crush
Another group aimed at the older demographic is called CoronaCrush. This groups tag line is “creating Jewish couples in quarantine” and they have amassed nearly 17K individuals. Seeing the need for LGBTQ networks, they created an offshoot group called CoronaCrushLGBTQ for queer Jews looking for love. This effort spans from Israel to the United States and urges its members to “post your profile, and share with your friends. Love could be just around the corner… and if not… the end of the world probably is.”
Pandemic Jewish Matchmaking in Chicago
Local Chicago matchmaking is a new trend we are seeing this season. Jewish women are bringing matchmaking back into Chicago’s modern dating with Quarantine Bae and now Match Made in Chi.
Quarantine Bae
Inspired by “Love is Blind in Quarantine”, an NYC based matchmaking effort for Instagram TV, Quaranqueens Stef Groner, and Rebecca Coven decided to launch Quarantine Bae. Their goal is to come from a place of kindness, warmth, and fun while also addressing the reality: you cannot date normally right now. The Quaranqueens and the Baemakers have spent this era of social-distancing coordinating hundreds of dates for Chicago Millennials all over the phone. While this is not an exclusively Jewish matchmaking service, the team emphasizes that the Tribe’s presence is strong due to some personal network outreach. Learn more on ChiTribe
Match Made in Chi
We are not claiming to be professional matchmakers, just doing what we can to help create some connections and some positivity in these weird times we’re living in!
Creators of Match Made in Chi
Have you recently been followed by the Instagram account @matchmadeinchi and are wondering what it is and who is behind it? We are too! ChiTribe slid into their DMs to uncover more. We spoke with the creators anonymously to verify that this is a credible Jewish effort in the city. Match Made in Chi was created by two women who will remain anonymous to make the entire matchmaking process more sacred and safe.
Match Made in Chi hopes to eventually grow into something scalable and profitable but for now, they are just having fun and trying to do some good. Through this google form to gather information securely, Match Made in Chi explains they are not professionals but just doing what they can to create Jewish couples during the pandemic.
Communicating only through DM, the current matchmaking process is all on Instagram. Before sharing contact info, Match Made in Chi reaches out to the women. They shared with us how as a woman run initiative their priority is to always “make sure females can find partners and feel safe in this world of dating.” The small team hopes to expand to the LGBTQ community because they know there is a need. “We are not claiming to be professional matchmakers, just doing what we can to help create some connections and some positivity in these weird times we’re living in!”
Jewish Pandemic Dating in the New Year
From all of our research, we know that many couples have had success. Some through the classic dating apps, FaceTime to social distance walks to…pandemic love? Others through the unique new landscape of Jewish dating on Facebook and beyond. Obviously, there are many new outlets to find love on the internet during a global pandemic. Jewish pandemic dating in the new year [when another lockdown could be just around the corner] is still incredibly frustrating.
What we know for sure: there too many lonely single Jews staying inside this Rosh HaShanah season looking for love in the new year.
