J Date Reviews

Editor's Star Ratings:

Chances of Getting a Date:
Features:
Quality / Size of Members' Photos:
Help Files / Technical Support:
Ease of Use / Navigation:
Ease of Joining / Registration:
Value for Money:
Overall Star Rating:

Costs:

• Free Membership Option
  • It's free! No time limit

• Standard Plans
  • 1 month $39.99 per month with $39.99 monthly renewal
  • 3 months $33.33 per month.  One payment of $99.99 with $33.99 monthly renewal *
  • 6 months $24.99 per month.  One payment of $149.94 with $29.99 monthly renewal *

• Premium Plans
  • 1 month $44.99 per month with $44.99 monthly renewal*
  • 3 months $37.33 per month. One payment of $111.99 with $37.99 per monthly renewal*
  • 6 months $27.99 per month.  One payment of $167.94 with $27.99 per monthly renewal*

*The renewal date is applicable only if you use a credit card and will begin the month following the end of the initial subscription.

Features:

• Free Plan includes:
  • 'Flirts',
  • 'Your Click'®
  • review your matches by mail.
• Standard Plan includes all of the above plus:
  • e-mail
  • instant messaging
  • video chat
  • message boards
  • e-cards
  • chat room.
• Premium Plan offers all of the above, plus:
  • Member Spotlight
  • Highlighted Profile.
• 'Flirts': Send somebody you fancy a one-liner.  You can send up to 30 a day, but each member can only be flirted with once.  Watch it, you flirt-o-holics out there!
• 'Your Click'®: Click Yes, No or Maybe when searching members' profiles and JDate will alert you with a 'Click' Alert when/if someone also clicks Yes for you.  'Your Click' is confidential unless it is a mutual Yes.
• E-mail: Features include Mobile Alerts, Blocked List, Custom Folders.  You can receive e-mails, E-Cards and Flirts on your cell phone so you can stay hooked to JDate wherever you go. You can even get a message whenever someone adds you to their Hot List.
• Profile: Tabs are organized into Basics, Lifestyle, Interests and Relationship, and you can post up to four photos.
• 'Connect': Members Online, Chat Rooms, Message Boards, E-Cards, Cupid's Quest. 
• Search: Quick Search, Your Matches, Photo Gallery, Look Up Member, Preferences.
• Hot Lists: Favorites, Viewed You, Hot Listed You, Matches By Mail.  Members will know that you have viewed their profile, but you can choose to hide this information.
• JBlog: Real life stories and relationship advice.
• JDate TV: Video clips around the subject of Online dating, including success stories.
• Events/Travel: Events organized by JDate and JDate singles holidays.
• JMag: Online magazine.
• Articles: Make it Happen, Dating Talk, Success Stories, Safety.
• Extras: Jewish Holidays Calendar/Press Releases.

 

Performing a Search:

There are four ways to search.  

• Quick Search requires your gender and the gender you are seeking, their age range and radius from your nearest city.  
• Your Matches are selected by the same as Quick Search, plus:
  • Basics: marital status, education, smoking and height.
  • Lifestyle: plan on having more children, willingness to relocate, who keeps Kosher, goes to Temple, drinking tendencies and activity level.  
  • Background: you can select ethnicity, languages spoken, and religion.   
• Photo Gallery shows you all the recently uploaded pictures.
• Look Up Member allows you to type in a member's number or username if you already know it.
  

 

Editor's Verdict:

JDate was established in 1997 and is currently the top international internet dating site for Jewish singles.  They claim a 50:50 male/female ratio, and cater for people seeking friendship, dates and marriage alike.  With a reported 750,000+ members, half of whom are in the US, that's a lot of potential cappuccinos. Although you don't have to be Jewish to become a member, or even straight, unlike some other Jewish dating sites. The general idea is to encourage dating and marriage within the Jewish faith.  JDate's noble mission statement is as follows:

"to strengthen the Jewish community and ensure that Jewish traditions are sustained for generations to come. To accomplish this we provide a global network where Jewish singles find friendship, romance and life-long partners within their faith."

Interestingly, the New York Times published an article in 2004 on the JDate phenomenon, entitled "You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Love JDate", citing that  actually many non-Jewish singles preferred dating within the Jewish faith, and many of them were doing this through JDate.  Women found Jewish men "treat them better", whilst men found Jewish women more independent, sassy and forthright than their gentile counterparts.  The running joke is choosing to date a Jewish woman will be the last decision a man will ever have to make.  According to the New York Times, the cultural tradition and family values of American Jewish lifestyle appealed to non-Jewish people on the dating scene and this has led to a sharp rise in inter-faith marriage among American Jews.  The then most recent data from the US National Jewish Population Survey of 2000-2001 showed that a whopping "47 percent of Jews married after 1996 chose a non-Jewish spouse. If this trend continues, some fear it could lead to the end of the American Jewish community."  JDate did this? Wow!

Any commercial giant in its prime comes under scrutiny and will inevitably be harangued by all and sundry trying to knock it from the No.1 spot.  JDate has been accused of planting fictitious profiles of porn stars (dressed in business suits?) to create its sharp spiffy look and draw in the virtual masses.  It is true that it is an ultra shiny website, with a very accessible look and the profiles are very clean cut and well-rounded, but this is no different from the aims of its competitors.  Anyway, the proof is surely in the pudding. Or the Kugel.  You can't argue with 750,000 people.  

Starting at $32.99 for one month on the standard plan, this site is not the cheapest on offer.  However, you do seem to get what you pay for, and JDate argues that it's still cheaper than a night on the town!  

JDate has by far the best presented profiles. There is a thumbnail picture to go with each profile section tab which is cute.  The standard of quality for pictures on JDate is very high.  There's nothing worse than a vague profile with a blurry photo of what looks like the back of someone's head in a rainstorm.  Being informative and honest with profiles seems to attract other people to do the same, and JDate has created just the right atmosphere of openness.  Think Facebook for the romantic Chosen Ones.  There is the option of hiding your profile in searches and when you are Online.  You can also hide your photos from non members.

Other features include Members Online, Chat Rooms, Message Boards, and E-Cards.  No1Reviews.com likes these gimmicks and gizmos.  They're fun and are creative ways of getting in touch and testing the water.  For the intrepid daters there are adventure holidays for JDate singles, local events and speed dating near you.  Events include trips to the theater, talks (e.g. The Future of the Legal Profession, California), and JDate Platinum Events (i.e. exclusive meals out, parties of 6-20 members, specially selected and invited by JDate).  This is what makes JDate stand out from the crowd.

JDate has a safe and cozy family feel, with smooth and friendly navigation and lots of nice looking Jewish boys and girls with good jobs and varied interests.  There is even a Mother's Day limited period discount, because what more could a Jewish mother want than for their young one to meet somebody nice in the spring time? The lighthearted mini documentary video clips on JTV are fun and make the Online dating thing a bit less sterile or creepy than it can sometimes be. We've all been there!  With JTV you see real people talking about their experiences on JDate and about dating in general in real situations.  Why not check it out and see what all the fuss is about?

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