The latkes are cooking and the candles are being lit. It's time for Hanukkah and this year, Jewish singles have many options to fill their date cards while looking for love online.
Singles can join traditional online dating sites such as Match and OkCupid and select their religious beliefs and for those they seek to meet by checking off box in the profiles, or sign up for the long-time favorite JDate, where you can select just what branch of Judaism you practice, if any at all.
These days, it's easier to find a Jewish mate with some of these mobile dating apps to help fill your calendar for the eight days of Hanukkah and beyond.
Grab your latkes and light some candles. It's time to get ready to start swiping.
JSwipe - Now a favorite among Jewish millennials, JSwipe has users in 70 countries. JSwipe is free to join and has been called the "Tinder" for Jews. You can select which sect of Judaism you practice and just how Kosher you are. Once you're matched with someone, there's an 18 day countdown before your match expires, so you're encouraged to start communicating. Eighteen, is the number for good luck in Judaism. The bonus is if you swipe left by mistake, your match still appears at the bottom of the screen. Just tap on him or her and he will return for you to review the profile again, without a charge.
Jfiix - Created by JDate's original founder, Joe Shapira, Jfiix initially launched in Israel and caught on quickly. They launched over the Jewish New Year in the U.S. and we have high hopes for this app. Singles can sign up for free and either "like" or "skip" on a potential match that is sent to them. The matches revolve on a carousel type (360) feature so you're presented with a bouquet of potential dates to view without having to swipe left or right. You can start also chatting without becoming a mutual match. Jfiix has about 25,000 users in the U.S. and is growing by about 400 a day. The app boasts about 250,000 chat conversations every day. The biggest benefit is, it's completely free.
JCrush - To join JCrush, you can sign in with Facebook. When you see a match, you can click on the "Star" icon or swipe right as a "Crush" if you're interested or the tap the X icon or swipe left for an "Oy Vey" for a digital thumbs down. Once you have a mutual crush, you can start communicating. There's a "Maybe" option if you want to think about it before sending your potential match into the permanent delete file. Just maybe, your date wasn't so great last night and you might want to revisit that standby.
JDate Mobile - With the tagline of "Find Love Anywhere You Go," JDate's mobile app mirrors their website and makes it easy to find love on your mobile phone. The app lets you find members of the Tribe nearby and lets you chat instantly. They'll send you your top matches, as well as let you conduct your own search. It's the best of both worlds. If you're already a JDate member, your mobile profile will grab the information from the desktop version. You can then edit your profile if you like on the app. Under Activity, you can see who has viewed your profile, so I recommend using this feature to reach out to someone who has viewed you to improve your chances of connecting. If you want to send a message, you must subscribe to be a premium member.
Wishing you a Happy Hanukkah in cyberspace, or wherever you may roam. Xo
Julie Spira is America's Top Online Dating Expert and Mobile Dating Expert. She's the founder of Cyber-Dating Expert and has been helping singles find love online for over 20 years with her Irresistible Profiles coaching programs. Follow @JulieSpira on Instagram and Twitter and sign up for the Free Weekly Flirt newsletter.
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