How to woo a Jew

Tamar Caspi’s guide aims to simplify the world of Internet dating for Jewish singles.

By MIRIAM KATES LOCK
Couple 521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Couple 521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
For a manual in the Internet- age of Jewish singles, How to Woo a Jew: The Modern Jewish Guide to Dating and Mating offers pertinent advice for those beginning to explore the world of online dating.
The author, Tamar Caspi, the official JDate expert and Internet blogger, has written dating advice columns for various publications, including The Jerusalem Post.
While the title makes it difficult for the book to be taken seriously, the advice is aimed at the well-dressed, well-heeled, bar- and club-hopping Jewish single who is not always convinced that it is important to marry another Jew. It guides the reader from choosing a profile name (such as “Tall- Jew4U” or “Harvard Shopaholic”), through what kind of photos to post, to how to use the likes, flirts, secret admirer, favorite and views functions.
The reader is introduced to six different JDaters, who are on the site either to find their beshert (“intended”) or to have fun. The ups and downs of their love lives are woven through the chapters; a few of them even settle down with someone they meet on the site.
The author also discusses how people often hide behind emails and text messages.
“When it comes to dating, we need to revert to the prehistoric era of phone calls and answering machines,” she writes. “Texting, ‘Hey, wazzup,’ is not going to clearly portray the message you intended.”
Caspi coins a few terms, such as “poly-dating” and “Jewdar,” and her best advice is that “the key to Internet dating is to get off the Internet as soon as possible.”