Marriage-minded young Jewish professionals will gather this week for a first-of-its-kind dating event on Florida’s West Coast. Spearheaded by local Chabad Young Professional Shluchim, in collaboration with Merkos 302’s Met@Chabad, the event will use cutting-edge technology to pair young Jews with potential soulmates and feature guidance from acclaimed Shadchan and Shluchah Mrs. Chani Lebovics.
While Florida is home to over 700,000 Jews, the community is largely concentrated in the south of the State. Cities such as St. Petersburg and Sarasota however, host smaller Jewish populations. Local Chabad Young Professionals centers provide consistent programs and events for their niche communities including Shabbos meals, classes, and networking events. For young Jewish singles looking to establish a Jewish home with a like-minded partner, however, options can seem limited.
Spearheaded by Rabbi Mendel Lebovics, of CYP St Petersburg, and hosted by Rabbi Mendy Dubrowski of CYP Tampa, this innovative event aims to change the game. A grand collaboration of local Shluchim including 5 dedicated CYP shluchim, each Shliach’s networks of young Jewish professionals, Met@Chabad’s technological know-how, and a shared vision to create many more Jewish marriages has resulted in a creative event to take place in mid-November.
“We see the need is there,” says Rabbi Lebovics. “Young Jews in small Jewish communities have made clear to their communal leaders want to marry Jewish, but the local network alone just isn’t enough. When we collaborate with other shluchim as a region, we’re helping singles broaden their circles and find someone who shares their vision. The infrastructure and technology from Met@Chabad has been key to getting this off the ground.”
While Met@Chabad hosts monthly virtual speed dating events, long-distance dating isn’t for everyone. Regional in-person events such as these are designed to bridge that gap. Conveniently located in Tampa, attendees will travel only an hour or two to join the evening. Similar events have been taking place in collaboration with Shluchim across the globe and are coming up in Los Angeles and Canada, expanding dating opportunities for marriage-minded young professionals internationally.
Met@Chabad’s Event approach goes beyond typical matchmaking. Each attendee, after verifying their halachic Jewish status, completes a thorough personality and values questionnaire, designed to find their most compatible match in the room. The “matchbox” system, based on research from Stanford University, curates matches before the event, giving participants confidence that their connections are meaningful. The evening begins with casual mingling before matched pairs are subtly introduced, allowing natural social connections to develop without pressure.
For Rabbi Mendy Dubrowski and the other Shluchim involved, this collaboration is about more than just expanding Jewish dating options. “At the end of the day, it’s also about creating deeper connections for young Jews with their local communities. It brings them closer to their Jewish identity, their peers, and the Chabad centers they call home,” Rabbi Dubrowski added.
The event will also include an address from acclaimed shadchan Mrs Chani Lebovics, presenting the Torah-true approach to marriage-focused, healthy dating. Drawing from her decades of experience in the world of Shidduchim, presenting Judaism’s uniquely beautiful approach to dating.
“In the aftermath of October 7th, many young Jews have been committed to building Jewish families more than ever before,” says Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Executive Director of Merkos 302. “Shluchim worldwide have been on the frontlines of this awakening of Jewish identity and practice and we aim to support the Shluchim in their critical role in every way we can.”
To host an event for your community or any other inquiries reach out to https://www.metatchabad.com/ 1-347-770-2890
Participating Communities
CYP Sarasota
CYP Orlando
YJP Pinellas County
CYP Tampa
CYP St Petersburg
And numerous other local Chabad House community members.
What age is this up to?
Is it only for people who are shomer Shabbos or can I suggest to someone who is not?
How does someone sign up to go?
Does Chabad have this in New York/New Jersey area?
Having for many years been involved fulltime in making shiduchim with the Rebbe’s brochoh and ongoing encouragement, we are so gratified to see that shadchonus is adapting to the new era to facilitate the building of more and more Jewish homes and families.We wish Merkos 302’s Met at Chabad. much, easy success. It’s one of the many great ways to Moshiach.INOW
We need the same initiative for frum singles. Secular singles already have many avenues to meet people, but the frum singles are getting neglected.
I am grateful for the efforts put into the secular crowds, but if only Chabad put the same effort and resources into our own.
We are now semi retired, but we always serviced both frum and secular witrh the sameeffort and diligence and found that a service such is now being offered by Merkos 302’s Met at Chabad could really cater to both, being careful to introducesimilar requirements. Or they could have 2 sections, using the same resources. Having said that, thereARE competent shadchonim within Lubavitch doing a marvellous job with our own frum oilam. I’d like to ask COLlive to possibly list them. They deserve a bit of publicity once in a while. Moshiach Now!!