by Derek Saker, Co-Founder and CMO of JWed
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We launched the service in 2001 to empower Jewish singles to find their bashert. With over 3,500+ known marriages (we say known, as we believe for every marriage informed of, there are many others unknown), we believe JWed.com is one of the most successful online Jewish dating for marriage services.
As Co-Founder and CMO, I believe the success of the service is nowhere more apparent than in the statistic that 65% of all JWed.com marriages are woman initiated - where the first contact was made by a female member, reaching out to a male member.
As well-known, in the traditional Jewish dating world, and certainly the frum world, very often it is the women who must play second-fiddle and wait by the phone as it were – and where taking the initiative may even be frowned upon.
That said, I am the first to stress that JWed.com certainly does not see itself as the panacea to the multitude of challenges faced by Jewish singles today. We always encourage singles to utilize many different forums and mediums in meeting others.
Started in 2001 as Frumster.com as a service only for Orthodox Jewish singles, in 2012 we changed the name to JWed.com to additionally meet the need of Jewish singles who while less affiliated, where equally determined to meet and marry someone Jewish – and this market and membership has grown exponentially as well.
Today, we have an international membership of tens of thousands and this is reflected in the demographics and geographics of the over 3,500 JWed.com marriages.
A significant majority of these marriages are between two people out-of-state, out-of-country or continent. Chana from New York, Shmuel from Tzfat, Debbie from Chicago, Ari from Baltimore. Gavin from Johannesburg, Melissa from Sydney.
This is one of the many enabling powers of such a service – as for other minority communities.
Where before a Jew in Omaha, Nebraska had a ‘choice’ of one, today that single has a pool of thousands.
And while of course geography IS a factor, it is today much less. When two people who share a similar outlook, complementing personalities, common Jewish and other life aspirations, bring-out
the very best in each other – finally find each other - that they may be separated by thousands of miles - becomes secondary.
We see that JWed.com members know who they are and know what they are looking for – and have little till no inhibitions in taking the driving seat.
Averaging 8 marriages a month, it seems many are finding their bashert at the right place.
Derek Saker | Co-Founder & CMO
JWed | Exclusively Jewish. Exclusively for Marriage. http://www.jwed.com