The latest online romantic resource for Jews seeking Jews may not prove as successful a brand as JDate. But it has a much better URL. Almostmetjew.com is aimed mostly at Conservative and Orthodox Jews who want a second chance at a first impression with that intriguing someone they spied on the way to shul, or, as the ads read, at the “israel day parade” or even at the “frozen aisle section of BRACHS supermarket in Lawrence.”
“We’re not matchmakers,” insists 26-year-old Adina Schwartz, who launched the site—modeled after Craigslist’s Missed Connections—this summer along with fellow Ortho-single Devorah Jacoby, 25. Rather, it’s more of “a lost-and-found for people,” with such entries as “You were at Fuji Hana, on a date with some girl … You were hot and tall, and wore a yellow tie that had either ducks or turkeys on it. What I Look Like: Like Pam Anderson, only more tznius [modest dress].”
“It’s not exclusively marriage at stake here,” adds Schwartz, “but it would be great if that happened.” The site recently had about 75 live ads, grouped by “Men Searching for Women,” “Women Searching for Men,” and “Jew Searching for Jew”—the latter aimed at reuniting old camp friends or the victims of mistaken identity. “Looking for the Other Chaim Szafranski” reads one ad. “I think you were at Rinat this past shabbos and by mistake took my tallis bag.”
But no missed connections of the Judeo-homo variety. “Devorah and myself hold Orthodox values and present the site in accordance with those values,” says Schwartz. So if the site’s off-limits to gays, how does it feel about goys? “True, we can’t guarantee someone is Jewish, but since most of our users declare their love for yarmulkes or long skirts, it would be pretty easy to spot the fakes.”