High Holidays Synagogue Matchmaking<\/a>.<\/p>\nParticipants fill out a form with questions about their Jewish background, preferred denomination and preferences for Shabbat practice, among many other details. The form takes about 15 minutes to fill out.<\/p>\n
Then, Selber reviews the responses and matches individuals to participating synagogues for High Holiday services. Participation is free, though some synagogues will still charge full price for High Holiday tickets. Others are offering free tickets or reduced rates as part of the program. Personal budgets are a consideration when making matches.<\/p>\n
The deadline to respond was Aug. 18 at 5 p.m. Forty people and 16 shuls signed up. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia\u2019s Center City Kehillah helped support the program.<\/p>\n
Selber decided to launch the initiative because she kept hearing about the struggle to find a synagogue from Jews in her matchmaking sessions. They wanted to join, but they either hadn\u2019t found the right one or didn\u2019t know where to start.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never had people be just so grateful and relieved to have a resource for this kind of thing. They said, \u2018Oh my God, I\u2019ve been looking for this kind of help.\u2019 Every synagogue\u2019s website looks exactly the same. How can you figure out if it\u2019s right for you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The matchmaker had a strong feeling that synagogues would be interested, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a sense for synagogues that they need younger members,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Participating shuls include city congregations like Historic Congregation Kesher Israel and Society Hill Synagogue; suburban synagogues such as Adath Israel on the Main Line and Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El; smaller operations like Folkshul and YPC-Shari Eli; and Chabad houses such as Mamash and B\u2019nai Abraham.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response has been great. We originally had reached out just to the Center City synagogues, but right away, synagogues from all over reached out wanting to be part of it,\u201d Selber said.<\/p>\n
Many individual participants were either new to the area or disconnected from the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
\u201cPost-Oct. 7, we found that a lot of people are either renewing or figuring out how they want to be involved in Judaism,\u201d Selber said.<\/p>\n
One respondent had just moved to Philadelphia from Central America, according to Selber. She speaks Spanish, so the matchmaker connected her with Congregation Mikveh Israel in Old City, a Sephardic synagogue where many members also speak Spanish.<\/p>\n
But some respondents were already involved in the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sort of surprised to see them on the list. They\u2019re very involved in Jewish social life, but now they\u2019re looking for that religious home,\u201d the matchmaker said.<\/p>\n
One of those participants was Cara Ozlek, of Northern Liberties. Ozlek, 36, helps organize Tribe 12 events and runs an outdoor group for Jews called Yids Off the Grid. While she\u2019s attended services and other events at several synagogues, she hasn\u2019t found the one to join yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was a perfect way to find which place to go to for the High Holidays,\u201d Ozlek said. \u201cI grew up in an Orthodox shul, but I\u2019m a Conservative Jew, so I\u2019m trying to find something in between.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ozlek also said she wants a shul that separates kids and adults during services and maintains a strong commitment to Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to see what the results come up with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Based on the positive response to this year\u2019s program, Selber wants to continue synagogue matchmaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could go one of two ways. It could be something where we turn the light on and do the High Holidays every year. Or it could be something more organic and rolling, kind of like matchmaking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Selber is also piloting friendship matchmaking for Tribe 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, everything is matchmaking. Everything is about helping people connect to each other and find their place,\u201d she said. \u201cMost of our work is about strengthening social fabric overall as a way to address this loneliness epidemic. If we can give people a connection point, one spark of a connection can lead to an entire community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Selber used the example of a woman who became part of her matchmaking program back in 2016. During the pandemic, she reached out to Selber because she was looking for a synagogue.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018I want some kind of connection. Do you know one that might be right for me?\u2019\u201d Selber recalled her saying.<\/p>\n
The matchmaker recommended the South Philadelphia Shtiebel, which was just opening up at the time. The woman became a member and started volunteering and attending events at the Shtiebel every week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat became her Jewish home,\u201d Selber said. \u201cOne little moment can change your whole life. A lot of this is about being in a room you weren\u2019t going to be in or being willing to take a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Danielle Selber interviews a client at a matchmaking appointment. (Photo credit: Julia Renee Photography) Danielle Selber is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[182,139,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-272697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Local-Synagogue-Matchmaking-1.jpg\")
Danielle Selber interviews a client at a matchmaking appointment. (Photo credit: Julia Renee Photography)<\/p>\n