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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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Iran to Boycott World Cup Draw Over Visa Restrictions
Soccer Football – World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws – FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 The original FIFA World Cup trophy is kept on display during the draws. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Iran intends to boycott next week’s World Cup draw due to the limited number of visas allocated to the country’s football federation.
According to the Tehran Times, the United States issued visas to only four members of Iran‘s delegation, with requests for three additional visas denied, including one for Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) President Mehdi Taj.
“We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken are unrelated to sport and that the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw,” FFIRI spokesman Mehdi Alavi said on Friday, per the report.
Alavi said the federation has been in contact with FIFA in an effort to resolve the situation.
The World Cup draw will take place on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The expanded 48-team World Cup is being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Matches will be played at 16 venues, including three in Mexico and two in Canada.
The draw will sort the teams into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group and the eight best third-place teams will advance to the knockout stage.
Iran has secured a spot in its fourth consecutive World Cup and seventh appearance overall.
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Dublin to Rename Chaim Herzog Park in a Move Slammed as Attempt to Erase Jewish History
Anti-Israel demonstrators stand outside the Israeli embassy after Ireland has announced it will recognize a Palestinian state, in Dublin, Ireland, May 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Molly Darlington
i24 News – Citing the Gaza war, Dublin city council voted to rename a park honoring Israel’s sixth president, the Irish-born Chaim Herzog, in further manifestation of anti-Israel sentiment in the country.
While a new name is yet to be chosen, reports cite efforts by pro-Palestinian activists to change it to the “Free Palestine Park.”
Former Irish justice minister Alan Shatter harshly criticized the vote, charging that “Dublin City Council has now gone full on Nazi & a committee of the Council has determined it should erase Jewish/Irish history. Herzog Park in Rathgar is named after Chaim Herzog, Israel’s 6th President, brought up in Dublin by his father, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, a friend of Eamon De Valera, who was Chief Rabbi of Ireland & Israel’s first Chief Rabbi… Some councillors want the Park renamed ‘Free Palestine Park.”
The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland issued a statement regarding the renaming of Herzog Park.
“It sends a hurtful and isolating message to a small minority community that has contributed to Ireland for centuries. We call on Dublin City Councillors to reject this motion. The removal of the Herzog name from this park would be widely understood as an attempt to erase our Irish Jewish history.”
A virtuoso diplomat and an intellectual giant, Herzog had served in a variety of roles throughout his storied career, including a memorable stint as the ambassador to the United Nations, where in 1975 he delivered a speech condemning the Soviet-engineered resolution to brand Zionism as a form of racism. The address is now regarded as a classic, along with the oration from the same session by the US Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slammed the decision, saying that Ireland’s “antisemitic and anti-Israel obsession is sickening.”
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Qatar’s Al Thani to Visit Beirut Wednesday to Meet with Lebanon’s Leaders
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani makes statements to the media with then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 13, 2023. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani will visit Beirut on Wednesday to meet with Lebanon’s leaders, Al-Jadeed reported Saturday.
The visit comes “as part of an effort inseparable from the efforts by Egypt in coordination with Arab countries, foremost among them Saudi Arabia.”
The trip coincides with a sensitive period for the country, ravaged by war and deep economic crisis.
Lebanon is under growing pressure from both Israel and the United States to more swiftly disarm Hezbollah and other Islamist groups across the country, with Israel increasingly inclined to stop the Shiite militia from rearming and rebuilding its infrastructure.
Hezbollah was left devastated in the aftermath of a nine-day war last year, that saw Israel take out its command structure and lay waste to a significant proportion of its missile arsenal.