Jewcy Answers Letters

I received this letter in response to the article I wrote about the Jewish singles' mixer I recently attended, hosted by Mekudeshet:

"The crowd was, well, Jewy. When I walked in with my girlfriend, one tall, fair-haired gentleman informed us immediately that admission was half-price since almost an hour had passed since the event started. Smile and nod." So you paid 50% to get into the event? LOL… there was no such discount and that's BS : ) Would be nice to mention you came in for free since asked so nicely to come and represented yourself as writing an article (even though its a blog – guess everybody is a reporter these days!) and we were kind enough to give you free admission : ) Could not care less if you are insensitive and poke fun at people who might have a harder time meeting others and just not as cool as yourself, promote intermarriage, and have no appreciation and mock to the survival of the Jewish people (including all the sacrifice our ancestors made so we are still Jewish, which obviously means nothing to you!) but a little simple truth and appreciation is always nice to see : ) Warmest regards, Simon

Dear Simon,

It appears my sense of humor was lost on you, as was the point of my article. Perhaps a heavy-handed use of emoticons will aid your understanding in this reply :)

I did not specify that I paid to get into the event. The reference to pricing was made in jest–you know, the old "cheap Jew" joke. :) Allow me to clarify for my readers in mildly-realized hopes of appeasing you: I went for free! And there is no discount for readers like you marking your calendars for the next mixer! No matter how late :) you are :)

You've correctly identified my title as "Dating Blogger." You get a BLUE :P star for careful reading :) However I must emphasize that the piece was given the treatment any article would: It was edited and featured on the scroll bar with some lovely artwork. And I am a reporter with a journalism degree, New York Observer clips and New York Magazine string reporting work under my belt, all at the tender age of 21, thank you very much. :o) But I am grateful I was allowed into the event for free. (And any publicity is good publicity so take it and run with it, my friend!) Yes, I support intermarriage. I don't think it's a hindrance to Judaism. I am the product of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father and I've retained my cultural and religious identity as a Jew. My intention is not to mock the "survival of the Jewish people" by suggesting that we can find romantic happiness outside of our own religion. All I'm saying is there are plenty of fish in the sea, and not that many are Jewish. I believe it's important for us singletons to gain the confidence to put ourselves out there in non-dating specific social venues, at which it seems more "mixing" actually occurs. I will gladly acknowledge it takes a certain degree of moxie to attend a singles mixer. At least those who do are getting themselves out there. But the venue they've chosen seems so limited and doesn't necessarily foster the attendees' confidence to approach romantic interests in a non-dating specific social outlet. Perhaps if they sought these out, they'd realize romantic opportunities not only abound but abound with people of all religious identities. If they found attraction (not purely physical) to a Gentile and subsequently opened their hearts to this possibility, romantic opportunities would become even more available. No harm in giving it a chance! Insensitive I may be at times. I tend to favor humor over preserving others' feelings, especially when it benefits my writing. But then again, if my sense of humor leaves you in tears over your morning Smart Start, maybe you have some personal exploring to do. I'd like to inspire people to open their minds to all potential soul mates and to become more confident in the dating arena. And if the latter takes some personal work, then trust me when I say it will be worth it. How often is confidence deemed "unsexy"? :) :o) :P ;-) :) :(!, Amy Odell Dating Blogger