Jewish singles flock to Philadelphia matchmaking conference ‘YentaCon’ to meet that special someone
A convention of matchmakers are helping young Jews make love, not war.
Leading “yentas” from New York and around the world descended on Philadelphia Thursday and Friday for the inaugural “YentaCon,” billed as the “first Jewish matchmaking conference” in the country designed to match members of the Tribe.
But these weren’t little old babushkas like in “Fiddler on the Roof.” These were next-gen millennial matchmakers, one as young as 25, delivering decidedly modern guidance, such as “Judaism and Sexuality,” to discerning singles.
“It’s the year of the yenta,” declared NYC yenta Bonnie Winston, who said that matchmakers are working overtime trying to pair up singles “looking for a Jewish connection” in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and amid a surge in antisemitism.
“We are all in one room to support one another, despite our differences, to help our Jewish clients find love,” she said to a sea of emphatic nods.
“The closer you get to Fiddler on the Roof-style matchmaking, the better it is,” said Ali Adler of “Matched by Ali,” adding that the emphasis on in-person, face-to-face meetups is back. “It’s as old-fashioned as you can get.”
At the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philly, one block from the Liberty Bell, it was kosher schnitzel, instead of cheesesteaks, on the menu — along with a healthy portion of kvetching, kvelling and kibbitzing.
The crowd, sporting “Yenta”-emblazoned fanny packs against a wall of heart-shaped balloons, included dozens of matchmakers and love coaches — both Hasidic and secular; rabbis both male and female; husband and wife matchmakers; black matchmakers, and one who’s part of a family of Lutheran ministers – with one mission: to help Jews meet and marry one another.
The yenta-ing became so raucous that at one point conference co-founder Michal Naisteter found a way to quiet the room when she announced, “Someone in this room is wearing a vibrator — you have to guess who.”
The female-heavy crowd, save for a few male matchmakers, including 31-year-old Nicholas Rosen of Washington Heights, plotzed when a phalanx of armed SWAT team guys entered the room for a security exercise and a matchmaker worth her weight screamed out, “Are they single?”
Indeed, the unofficial commandment, thou shalt get busy, was foremost on everyone’s minds. During Rabbi Yisroel Bernath’s session, “Kabbalah of Love,” the “Love Rabbi” reiterated the group’s mission, declaring, “The greatest thing since sliced challah is getting someone married.”
Matchmakers showcased their clients during PowerPoint presentations: the bachelor from NYC “with a beach house in East Hampton,” the “quirky cult Disney addict,” the “self-made VC,” and the holy grail of matches — the “single Jewish doctor.”
During Neisteter’s session on “Judaism and Sexuality,” discussions on the “sex-positive” aspects of Judaism inspired heated proclamations, “The Talmud says a man is obligated to satisfy his wife,” while another yenta chimed in, “It’s grounds for divorce if he doesn’t!”
Aleeza Ben Shalom, star of Netflix’s “Jewish Matchmaking,” told The Post she’s “reclaiming” the word yenta and “wants to spread a lot of seeds” to make Jewish connections. No Jewish singles during the evening took “spread your seed” edict too literally, as many left with only with a new phone number.
As one yenta put it, “When we have love and peace, we have hope — and we all need that,” Jewish or not.
