Even the Playing Field

Play fair.

JDate Line

Chris Hansen is the host of Dateline NBC: To Catch a Predator.

Out of Line

It used to be that asking for a kiss was being too forward. Now with the advent of online dating, just asking to meet for a date is pushing the line. It sends them running.

Screening Process

Tay-Sachs Disease (TSD) is a fatal genetic disorder that has shown increased prevalence in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. If two unaffected parents each carry the recessive TSD gene, they have a 1-in-4 chance of bearing an affected TSD child. Some couples will proactively get tested for the recessive TSD gene, to see if they are at risk of bearing a child with TSD.

Frumster.com is the leading online dating service for marriage-minded, mostly observant Jews. It's a bit different than JDate.

The Next Level

Facebook is a social networking site that is popular with the kids these days.

Speaking of which, now you can see Shabot on Facebook!

Cut the CROP

An unusual phenomenon takes place on JDate ... Rather than upload fresh new photos, members tend to alter old photos of themselves and crop out their ex-boyfriends and girlfriends. I'll bet there''s enough ex-couples on JDate practicing this crude technique in digital photographic editing that you could find all the pairs of photos with each ex-partner cropped out and make the pictures whole again, like a puzzle that wasn't meant to be.

Looking For

JDate wants to know if you are looking for: A date, Friend, Marriage, A long-term relationship, Marriage & Children, or Activity Partner. That last one always irked me, until I figured out its secret meaning ...

May You Be Inscribed

"L'shanah tovah" is a traditional greeting for Rosh Hashanah that means "for a good year", short for "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem", which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year."

May you be inscribed on JDate in the New Year.

AIM to Please

As with most paid subscription based online dating services, JDate members are forbidden to include personal contact information like e-mail addresses, phone numbers, or AIM screen names in their profile. That doesn't stop clever folks from sneaking in the occasional hint, most notably (and obviously) in their chosen member handles. It took me a while to figure out that girls who went by names like "IMjenn613" were not actually announcing "I am Jenn", but rather were implying "Instant Message me at jenn613". JDate will take your profile down if they find out. Thought JDate shouldn't really be concerned, these girls never reply on IM either.

IM Cool 2

Continued from last week's strip, IM Cool.

JDate offers an Instant Message service for paying members, which allows people to text chat online with each other.

IM Cool

JDate offers an Instant Message service for paying members, which allows people to text chat online with each other. Problem is, I think it's broken.

WTJ?

The vast majority of JDate subscribers are of the Reform Jewish movement. This is not surprising, as Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews.

According to a recent survey, 53% of Reform Jews intermarry.

Love of Life

"I love life" ranks as one of the most cliché lines used in profiles, along with "I work hard, and play hard", and "I'm just as comfortable in a little black dress as jeans and a T-shirt"

Check out Rachel Lucas's Helpful Guide to Online Dating: Girl Power Version and her 20 How To NOT Sound Like a Total Dillwad on the Personals For Men.

Pay Per View

JDate sure knows how to suck you in. If you are not a paying member, and you receive a message from someone, you must pay to read it. You can't even see who sent it to you before you read it. So chances are it's from someone you didn't want to talk to in the first place. At least Frumster let's you see who wrote to you before you pay just to reply.

"I liked your profile" ... famous first words.

Will tell you later

"Will tell you later" is an interesting choice when selecting your Religion on JDate. I can understand not wanted to disclose one's annual income, but not discussing your religious affiliation on a Jewish dating site?

At least the option "Willing to convert" is telling the truth.

Date Rate

As warned in a letter from JDate:

On April 26, for the first time in nearly 3 years, we will increase the price of a 1-month JDate subscription. As a result, you have until midnight Wednesday, April 25, to lock-in JDate's lowest available 1-month rate. [..] 

The new price will be $39.99.

Super Zeros

JDate profiles, RE-ACTIVATE!

Hodown

I doubt I'll get many complaints about this strip. The Modern Orthodox Liberals are pretty open about their liberalism.

Reaching New Heights

It's a JDate fact: women lie about their weight, and men lie about their height. At 5'6", folks have advised me to tack on an extra inch in my profile, because that will turn me up in more search results, a virtual foot in the door. Personally, I'd rather inch my way in with accurate stats.

To quote Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, "Personality goes a long way."

Jews on First

Shomer Negiah: Shomer - one who keeps (observes), Negiah - [the laws of] touching.

Supposedly the Torah forbids even the most casual endearing contact, such as shaking hands, between unmarried members of the opposite sex because one thing can lead to another, and before you know it, all kinds of things are shaking.

I think shomer negiah confirms the existence of G-d, because no man would have made this a law.