Who Knew? The Make-a-Shidduch Foundation

There’s nothing quite like the sight of the Old World running right smack into the New. The Make-a-Shidduch Foundation, a Baltimore-based organization dedicated to “building the Shomer Shabbos community one shidduch at a time!” is a most delicious example.

This foundation offers tech-savvy additions to the field of shidduch [match]-making. Some of these, like the aptly named Shadchan [Matchmaker] Magazine, are clearly aimed at those professionally involved in matching couples, while others, like Shidduch U., offer “in person, on-line and teleconferencing opportunities for singles” to improve communication skills. The crowning glory of the website — and further proof that modernity can indeed be put into the service of tradition — is surely ShidduchVision, a video-conferencing service that functions on the premise that “distance has been notorious for coming between dates that otherwise look good ‘on paper’.” The solution? Allow prospective mates to meet — modestly, of course — in cyberspace.