Founder of match-making scheme is loving its progress

A MATCH-MAKING programme launched over the High Holy-Days last year to help Jews find partners within the faith has doubled its numbers.

Flyers for We Go Together — an initiative headed by Mitzvah Day interfaith chair Lady Daniela Pears — were left on seats in the men’s sections of more than a dozen Orthodox synagogues during the festivals in 2017, inviting singles aged over 25 to sign up.

Respondents were interviewed by one of a team of volunteers and matched against a database of single women.

But because of the growing take-up, the scheme was now being promoted through other sources, Lady Pears explained, and both men and women could register.

“We advertise on social media and in newspapers, we post in various groups, people join via word of mouth. Over 400 people have registered.

“The oldest applicant is an 85-yearold Holocaust survivor. This just shows that people of all ages want a partner.”

She said an example of the scheme’s success in bringing people together was a couple who had not previously met despite leading parallel lives — both attended Oxford University and the same shul.

Lady Pears felt the scheme differed from many dating apps in that “most applicants are of the mindset that they wish to settle down and meet a life partner, rather than looking for a fling. It’s about being at the right stage in life.”

Although her team cannot predict if a matched couple will be physically attracted to one another, “what we do know is that they will be compatible in other ways. We have put in the effort to have open and honest conversations with them. Though we do ask for a photo, it can only convey so much. People need to have things in common as well.”

While the scheme is currently London-based, those who have registered include Mancunians who spend significant time in the capital.

Lady Pears’s aspiration “is that We Go Together is accessible to everyone, whatever their Jewish perspective”.