Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. The whole world celebrates love, including Israel. It is the best time to find someone to share your days and nights with. Here are 3 ways to find that lucky person.

Dating website – אֲתַר הֶיכֵּרוּיּוֹת

More and more Israelis are using dating websites to meet new people. Jdate.co.il, Okcupid.com and onlyu.co.il are some of the most popular dating websites in Israel. Israelis are willing to spend dozens of Shekels a month in order to find someone to spend the rest of the life with. Israelis are willing to go out to endless dates a month in order to find their better half. They take comfort in the statistics: 16 bad dates to 1 good date, a colleague once reassured me. My friend, for example, met her husband on the Tinder app. It was four years ago. Their first date, in a Tel-Aviv coffee shop, ended with a quarrel about warfare ethics. She didn’t like him at first, but he was willing to travel with her to Africa the next month. Now they are married with two babies and living in the countryside in the north of Israel. So remember: any bad date can end up with marriage, or at least bring you forward to a better date. 😉

Matchmaking – שׁׅידוּךְ

Israelis love setting people up. They believe that a person who brings three couples together receives a place in heaven. So when in Israel, be ready to get a lot of set up offers from your Israeli friends. But be aware: there are two types of matchmakers. The first kind is the one who introduces between two people and then lets them go. He doesn’t want to be involved, he doesn’t stick his nose in too far. If you are lucky, your friend will be that kind of a matchmaker. If you are not, you will have to prepare yourself to an aggravating third wheel in your new relationship. I once had that kind of a matchmaker. My friend meant well, but calling in the middle of the date was too much…

Outdoors – מֵחוּץ לַבַּיׅת

It can be a Russian class, a salsa party, a sun tanning on the beach, a human rights protest, a university library; it can basically be anywhere. Israelis are very open people. We never ignore each other on the street or in the bus. I won’t lie to you, it can be annoying sometimes, but most of the times it’s nice and convenient. Especially if you are single. So all you have to do is put yourself out there. Oh, and smile, don’t forget to smile!

And yes, I know I said outdoors, but that includes the inside of the Big Brother house as well. The sixth season of the Big Brother resulted in the first couple in Israel to meet in a reality TV show and to marry. Watch their story in the entertainment news:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-YrKgugZcs#t=5.846878

Text vocabulary

Valentine’s Day = חַג הָאַהֲבָה

Dating website = אֲתַר הֶיכֵּרוּיּוֹת

Website = אֲתָר

Date = the translation is פְּגִישָׁה, but the Israelis just use the English phonetic and say דייט.

Love = אַהֲבָה

Matchmaking = שׁׅידוּךְ

Matchmaker = שַׁדְכָן

Heaven = גַּן עֵדֶן

Couple = זוּג

Romantic = רוֹמַנְטִי

Outdoors = מֵחוּץ לַבַּיׅת

 

 

Keep Calm and Learn Hebrew

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