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It’s a date: Netflix’s ‘Jewish Matchmaking’ debuts May 3
(JTA) — A matchmaker who says she has successfully paired 200 Jewish couples is the star of “Jewish Matchmaking,” a Netflix series that is set to start streaming May 3.
Netflix announced the series, a spinoff of its wildly successful “Indian Matchmaking” show, nearly a year ago. Now, new details that the streaming giant released on Thursday reveal that it will take place in both the United States and Israel, and will feature people from a variety of Jewish backgrounds.
Their guide will be Aleeza Ben Shalom, an Orthodox Jewish dating coach with a decade of experience who was based in the Philadelphia area and moved to Israel two years ago.
“Jewish Matchmaking” follows Aleeza Ben Shalom, a top Jewish matchmaker, as she helps her clients meet their bashert, or soulmate. (Netflix)
“Finding your person is the hardest thing to do in the entire world,” Ben Shalom says in the show’s trailer, which dropped Thursday. “And that’s where I come in.”
Netflix is keeping most details about the show secret until closer to the launch date, but the trailer shows one man who is part of the process — “I don’t want to have to explain to her why ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ is funny,” he explains, after being asked why he is looking for a matchmaker — and several women. Multiple cast members posted about their involvement on social media on Thursday, including comedian and disability activist Pamela Rae Schuller and Miami-based marketing executive Dani Bergman.
Formal matchmaking is common in the haredi Orthodox world, where many couples pair off through a formal and speedy process that has been depicted in shows such as “Shtisel,” which also streams on Netflix. Other Jews date and marry on their own, and a slew of dating services and apps have catered to matching Jews with each other.
The singles in “Jewish Matchmaking” come from a variety of religious backgrounds. (Netflix)
“In today’s world of modern love, we are used to turning to technology to find love,” Ben Shalom told E! News. “We download apps and we upload profiles. We swipe left or swipe right. And yet, somehow finding ‘the one’ has never been harder.”
“Jewish Matchmaking” will run for eight 30-minute episodes, featuring a diverse set of couplings, from Orthodox singles who observe the rules of negiah — the prohibition on touching before marriage — to Reform and secular U.S. Jews who, data show, are statistically likely to marry people who are not Jewish.
The show — whose title is translated into Hebrew as “Modern Matchmaking” — is modeled on “Indian Matchmaking,” now entering its third season, which also focuses on a professional matchmaker and people looking for love. While the show has been popular with audiences, it has also drawn criticism for reinforcing religious and caste segregation; no couples from its first season remain together.
Jewish singles search for their soulmates with the guidance of matchmaker Aleeza Ben Shalom. (Netflix)
Ben Shalom, who says she grew up secular and later became more traditionally observant, works exclusively with Jewish singles. This week, she launched a podcast called “The Yentas” with two other Jewish matchmakers affiliated with Tribe12, a Philadelphia organization serving Jewish young adults that includes a matchmaking service.
“We know it can carry a negative gossipy connotation,” they say in the first episode about the name of their show. “Maybe you saw ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ where the word is associated with being a busybody, somebody who wants to make matches but doesn’t have your best interest at heart. We are not that. We are love professionals.”
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The post It’s a date: Netflix’s ‘Jewish Matchmaking’ debuts May 3 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Pope Leo Says Those Who Wage War Are Thieves Stealing Away Our Peaceful Future
Pope Leo XIV looks on as he meets with Catholic religious education teachers attending a national meeting organised by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, April 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Leo on Sunday described those who wage wars and appropriate the earth’s resources as thieves who rob the world of a peaceful future, issuing a warning about the use of nuclear power on the anniversary of the Chernobyl reactor accident.
Ukraine is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster on Sunday amid lingering fears that Russia’s four-year-old war could spark a repeat of the tragedy.
In his weekly address after the Angelus prayer, the Pontiff said the Chernobyl accident had left a mark on humankind’s collective conscience.
“It remains a warning over the use of ever more powerful technologies,” the Pope, who has just returned from a 10-day tour across four African nations, said.
“I hope that at all decision-making levels, wisdom and responsibility always prevail, so that atomic power can always be used to support life and peace,” he added.
Commenting on the Gospel of the day, which contained the metaphor of a sheep thief, Pope Leo said thieves came under many appearances, listing as examples “superficial lifestyles driven by consumerism,” prejudices and wrong ideas.
“And let’s not forget also those thieves who, by plundering the earth’s resources, by fighting bloody wars or feeding evil in whichever form, are simply taking away from all of us the chance of a future of peace and serenity,” he added.
Leo, the first US pontiff, has attracted the ire of President Donald Trump after becoming more outspoken against war and despotism.
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UK’s Starmer and Trump Discuss ‘Urgent Need’ to Restore Shipping in Strait of Hormuz
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump (not pictured) hold a bilateral meeting at Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz during a call on Sunday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“The leaders discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz, given the severe consequences for the global economy and cost of living for people in the UK and globally,” the spokesperson for Starmer’s office said in a statement.
“The prime minister shared the latest progress on his joint initiative with President (Emmanuel) Macron to restore freedom of navigation,” the spokesperson added.
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Palestinian Leader’s Loyalists Win Local Elections, Including Some Seats in Gaza
A Palestinian man votes during the municipal election at a polling station in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip April 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Loyalists of President Mahmoud Abbas won most races in Palestinian municipal elections, election officials said on Sunday, in a vote that for the first time in nearly two decades included a city in the Gaza Strip run by rival Hamas.
Saturday’s ballot marked the first elections of any kind in Gaza since 2006 and the first Palestinian polls since the Gaza war began more than two years ago with Hamas’ cross‑border attack on southern Israel.
Abbas’ West Bank–based Palestinian Authority (PA) said the inclusion of the Gaza city Deir al‑Balah, which suffered less damage than other areas of the coastal territory during the war, was intended to show that Gaza was an inseparable part of a future Palestinian state.
The elections, in which voter turnout was low, had been held “at a highly sensitive moment amid complex challenges and exceptional circumstances,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said as results were announced on Sunday.
But they represented “an important first step in a broader national process aimed at strengthening democratic life … and ultimately achieving the unity of the homeland,” he said.
POSSIBLE INDICATOR OF HAMAS SUPPORT
Hamas, which ousted the PA from Gaza in 2007, did not formally nominate candidates in Gaza and boycotted the race in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Fatah’s victory was widely expected.
But some candidates on one of the Deir al-Balah lists were widely seen by residents and analysts as aligned with the movement, making the vote a potential indicator of support for the Islamist group.
Preliminary results showed that the list, known as Deir al‑Balah Brings Us Together, won only two of the 15 seats contested in Gaza.
The Nahdat Deir al‑Balah list, backed by Abbas’ Fatah party and the Western-backed PA, secured six seats. The remaining seats were won by two other Gaza-based groups, Future of Deir al‑Balah and Peace and Building, not affiliated with either faction.
Abbas loyalists swept the election in the West Bank, running unchallenged in many seats.
Fatah spokesperson Abdul Fattah Dawla noted that turnout was close to that for the last municipal elections in the West Bank, in 2022, praising voters for participating despite ongoing violence by Israel.
“By electing figures linked to Fatah, voters appear to be seeking unrestricted international support for municipal governance and a gradual political shift that could extend beyond the local level,” said Palestinian political analyst Reham Ouda.
The recent war has left much of Gaza reduced to rubble, with many residents displaced and focused on survival. Israel has continued conducting strikes despite an October ceasefire.
In Gaza, voter turnout reached just 23 percent, while in the West Bank it was 56 percent, according to Chairman of the Central Elections Commission Rami al‑Hamdallah.
Al‑Hamdallah said some of the ballot boxes and voting equipment did not make it into the enclave because of Israeli security restrictions, though those challenges were overcome.
Hamas’ Gaza spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, downplayed the significance of the election results, saying that they had no impact on wider national issues.