July 1, 2005/Sivan 24, 5765 Volume LV No. 26

SawYouAtSinai Celebrates the Engagement of its 100th Member

Making three matches guarantees a portion in the world to come.

With one hundred members matched in eighteen short months, SawYouAtSinai.com, the only Jewish matchmaking website, has taken this Talmudic passage to the extreme.

“For centuries we, the Jewish people, have been praised by the world for our tsniut, our modesty, and I wanted to make a site that reflected this trait,” said Marc Goldmann, founder of SawYouAtSinai. Ever since its inception in December of 2003, the site has provided incredible, discreet service for Jewish singles everywhere, and today, it celebrates its first milestone: the engagement of its 99^th and 100^th members, Emily Weisberg to Steven Silverman.

Prominent rabbanim have labeled SawYouAtSinai as a “Halachically permissible environment for people who are serious about getting married.” Included on the list are Rabbi Schachter and Rabbi Willig, roshei yeshivah at Yeshiva University, and Rabbi Kenneth Auman, who is President of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) as well as Rav of the Young Israel of Flatbush. “Tsniut under trusted rabbinic auspices… that’s something really special,” remarks Aviva Einhorn, a site matchmaker from Lakewood. “People that would normally never consider an online dating site have embraced the SawYouAtSinai approach.”

SawYouAtSinai uniquely combines the power of technology, the accessibility of the internet, and the personal touch of a matchmaker to service its members. The easy‑to‑use process eliminates the need for singles to display their profiles for the world to see. And instead of browsing through countless Internet profiles, members, with the matchmakers’ help, are able to select whom they date in a discreet manner.

After registering, members choose up to two matchmakers from a list of over two hundred. The volunteer matchmakers, some of whom have been in the field their whole lives, strive to develop personal relationships with the members who pick them. They then send potential matches to members, who have the option of accepting the profiles suggested. “The SawYouAtSinai matchmakers really helped me out on the site,” adds Emily. “Thank you so much to the whole team, especially Tova Peretz, who was our matchmaker… for guiding me in the right direction and bringing Steve and I together!”

Both raised in Oceanside, Emily and Steven did not know each other growing up. And only after Steven had moved to Manhattan, where he worked as a physician’s assistant, did SawYouAtSinai unite them. “I went out with five or six people on the site before meeting Emily, and even though those matches didn’t work out, everyone was courteous and professional. SawYouAtSinai is an unbelievable and private way to meet nice people that you wouldn’t meet otherwise… and thank G-d, it led me to Emily.”

One hundred members already matched—the exceptional success rate continues to drive the SawYouAtSinai team to even greater heights in their efforts to erase the uncomfortable and pressure‑packed atmosphere faced by many Orthodox singles in the pursuit of their spouse.

Emily, who had the dream proposal, certainly appreciates all the effort that has been put forth by the SawYouAtSinai staff. “Steven managed to get us batting practice at Shea Stadium. After hitting for a few hours, he came over and presented me with a new wooden bat, the inscription on which read, ‘Emily, will you marry me?’ Floored, I of course said ‘yes,’ and everyone on the field came over to congratulate me. It would have been nice to be match number forty-nine to correlate with the forty-nine days of counting the omer, but I’m just happy I met Steve… and number fifty is great, too!

What started as a mere vision today is revolutionizing the way Orthodox Jews date. Already with a well-established base of over ten thousand members from across the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Israel, SawYouAtSinai is offering Jewish singles everywhere the opportunity to harness the benefits of privatized and personalized dating.

For more information, log on to SawYouAtSinai.com.

~~Josh Weinberg