The shidduch crisis is a phenomenon in the Orthodox Jewish community whereby eligible single persons, especially women or Sephardim, have difficulty finding a suitable spouse, or a shidduch. There is some debate about the severity of the crisis and whether it is a recent development or a long-extant issue.
Causes and solutions
Several causes have been cited for the shidduch crisis, but it is most commonly attributed to the average age gap between Orthodox Jewish women and men when they marry. Some members of the community dispute this as the root cause. Several initiatives in various Orthodox Jewish communities exist to close the age gap by offering rewards for shadchanim who make matches between men with women of approximately the same age.
Other possible causes include the increased scrutiny placed on eligible women and the shidduch system in general.
One possible solution is to have mixed seating at weddings, as friends of the two spouses will often have many common interests.
Pandemic and online shidduch
During the COVID-19 pandemic, prolonged lockdown, and popularisation of mobile apps and online video calls, in-person dating and meeting new people became more challenging. In these circumstances, the internet-based shidduch regained its popularity not only among Orthodox Jews, but also among non-religious Jews. This new dynamic has been referred to as "the Shidduch Revolution".
See also
References
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-16. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Salamon, Michael J. (2008). The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures. Urim Publications. ISBN 978-9655240061.
- "Shidduch Crisis - Mikvah.org - Mivtza Taharas Hamishpacha". mikvah.org. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "Opinion: There is NO Shidduch Crisis – Mazal Tov!". thelakewoodscoop.com. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "Yated Newspaper - Understanding The Shidduch Crisis-Answering The Nisayon". Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "The Matzav Shmoooze: Why Solving the Shidduch Crisis With the Age Gap Misses the Boat". matzav.com. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "The Partial View: The Shidduch crisis is not a result of the age gap or numbers". 13 August 2014. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "Orthonomics: Guest Post: The Age Gap Theory". 10 May 2010.
- "The Shidduch Project – NASI Project". shidduchproject.com. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "Life After Stern College: Different approaches to "The Shidduch Crisis": Analyzing the causes and solutions". lifeaftersterncollege.blogspot.ca. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "YUTorah Online". yutorah.org. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- "Safety Guidelines for In-person Dating During COVID-19". KolHaCovid. 2020-05-15. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- "How the Pandemic Shaped Jewish Dating". The Commentator. 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- "Matchmakers in an age of pandemic". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- "Opinion | Coronavirus lockdown meant a break from shidduch pressure — until it didn't". The Forward. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- Walters, Louisa (15 October 2020). "Tradition! In a time of pandemic, singletons ditch dating apps for matchmakers". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- "Coronavirus Spurs Jewish Dating Revolution". The Media Line. 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
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