Things to know when
dating Orthodox Jewish girls

Dating an Orthodox Jewish Girl

When dating Jewish girls, there are a few important things to remember, especially if both parties practice Orthodox Judaism. Jewish dating singles tend to go on dates in very public places, such as hotel lobbies or out to eat, and not darkened movie theaters or other such spots.

Ultra Orthodox, or Charedi, Jews live a segregated existence in general. They seldom go to mixed sex parties or dances and casual dating is generally strongly discouraged. Potential matches go out on dates to see if they like each other and often, engagements are announced within a few days or weeks if at all. These dates are put together for Jewish dating singles by shadchanim, or matchmakers.

Ultra Orthodox Jews aren't the only ones to take dating seriously, though not all religious Jews use matchmakers. There are many young Jewish singles who have taken their search to the internet. Jewish dating singles have created millions of Jewish dating personals online, looking for potential spouses.

Unique religious status

When dating Jewish girls, first learn her religious outlook, or hashkafa. It's important to know her values and ideals to make sure that they are a good fit. When dating for marriage, it's also crucial to know what she wants for the future in terms of work, children and where she would like to live. Many young Jewish singles are making aliyah, or moving to Israel, and discussing this with your date is a large factor in a potential marriage.

Some of the best places to meet and start dating Jewish girls is at synagogue, as perhaps there are local singles events that are hosted there. The Jewish Federation, Aish and the JCC are a few of the large organizations that regularly host singles events. Volunteering for Jewish charities is a great way to meet Jewish girls, and there is always the myriad of Jewish dating personals and dating services online, as well. Young Jewish singles who would like to start dating Jewish girls have a lot of options as to how to meet them. Matchmakers are not exclusive to the Ultra Orthodox, many shades of Orthodox Jews use matchmakers as well.

Intermarriage is largely frowned down upon within Orthodox Judaism. Intermarriage can cause confusion within families and quickly break down the Jewish family structure. Judaism follows the mother; unless one converts, one is only Jewish if his or her mother is Jewish.

It's important to realize that the Torah states that all human beings are created in God's image. The Jewish people have a deep respect for all of God's creations. Nevertheless, religious Jews take intermarriage very seriously and consider it to be a huge problem, in fact, it is written in the Torah "Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods and the Lord's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. ...For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people, his treasured possession." (Devarim 7:3-6)

While these verses pertain directly to the pagans who were in Cana'an when the Israelites were on their way there from Egypt, this idea is expressed many times and in many different contexts all through the Tanach, or the Jewish scriptures.

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