How 3 Philadelphia natives are taking Jewish matchmaking into the 21st century
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- When professional matchmakers Michal Naisteter, Danielle Selber and Aleeza Ben Shalom used to meet together at a Philadelphia coffee shop, they would always discuss their hopes and dreams.
"Aleeza always entered, it was called Trails End Cafe, with some new thing like, 'I'm going to get a master's degree, and I want to be on Netflix,'" Naisteter said. "[Selber and I] would be like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, Aleeza, whatever.'"
It would ultimately come true.
Ben Shalom, a Philadelphia native, is the star of Netflix's newest dating show, "Jewish Matchmaking."
"Matchmaking has been around for centuries," Ben Shalom said. "Netflix caught up!"
While the three women only match Jewish people, Ben Shalom said the centuries old traditions of Jewish matchmaking can apply to anyone, such as Shomer Negiah, or refraining from touching.
"In Orthodox Judaism, people do that, and they get married without ever touching," Ben Shalom said. "With my modified world version, I ask people to try not touching for five dates. If you can't do that, three dates. Get to know a person. Touch hearts before you actually hold hands or touch anything else."
Ben Shalom now lives in Israel while Naisteter and Selber remain based in Philadelphia.
Despite the distance, the three matchmakers are teaming up to reach out to a broader audience through their podcast, "The Yentas," which is the Yiddish word for a gossip, where they give advice on dating topics.
"In a lot of ways, people are coming back to matchmakers and to this idea of a shtetl, a group of people helping you achieve your dating goals, as opposed to doing this as a silo experience," Selber said.
"We know there's nothing like the human touch, and that's what we are at the end of the day. We are the human touch," Naisteter added.
With the Netflix show and the podcast, the three matchmakers said their services are more popular than ever.
"It doesn't have to be a terrifying experience. It doesn't have to be all swiping in a cold, dark room," Selber said. "It can be about community. It can be about accomplishing one of your goals, which is dating."
