Has anyone heard of the newest idea from those trying to milk the shidduch crisis for all its worth. As a conspiracy theorist, I believe the shidduch crisis was made by folks who decided that we could have a whole economy based on trying to help you find a shidduch, this economy goes way beyond the simple Frumster and Saw You At Sinai sites. You can have people pray for you at various holy sites, do things that will get you your segula points without having to them yourself and you can even put your shidduch profile in a magazine of shidduch profiles which I nor anyone I know has actually seen.
Read the JTA Article – it is extensive and has some other good Shidduch Crisis info including pointing the blame at separation of the sexes.
Now from the forward thinking shidduch milkers comes Shidduch Vision. Instead of turning down those girls in Baltimore (why does Baltimore get so much attention?) because they live too far away and the toll cost from New York to Baltimore is over $25 each way – you can have a video conference shidduch date.
Now my first thought was that this sounds exactly like Skype, but probably has the Rabbis approval, so they can actually charge you money while skype is free. I actually sat in the same room when one of my buddies had his first “skype date” with someone, I was waiting for the clothes to be removed but they weren’t.
Shidduch Vision allows you to have up to 3 dates with their “state of the art” overpriced kosher skype – private video feed. Each date costs just $18 which aint too shabby, considering you don’t have to pay for drinks or dinner and you can finally go on a date in your bathrobe, or if you aim the camera right, you can just go naked, now that would be something – Naked Shidduch Dating – brought to you by Shidduch Vision.
Shidduch Vision is obviously just a money making scheme aimed at people who are too dumb to figure out how to use Skype, myself included. But this does open up a whole new realm of what could be done – this can usher in a whole new world of Voyeur Shidduch Dating – similar to my highest viewed video on You Tube of when I went to the Marriott Hotel in Brooklyn and filmed all the yeshivish dates there.
You also have the ability to cut the date short, how many times have you met the girl at the door and wanted to run away as fast as possible? Imagine the beauty of ending a date on shidduch vision – you can just claim your internet went down, makes it so much easier to cut the date short.
As I mentioned you can date in your underwear – but another much more important factor should be considered. Do you know how many times I have wanted to get a wire and listen onto my friends dates? Now you can just have Shidduch Parties, all of your friends can go on the “date” with you.
Some potential downsides to be considered:
If you thought that girls pictures looked nothing like their profiles, do you know what some fancy lighting and dark outfits can do to a girl on video. You don’t actually get to see her in all her flabby glory until the third date and these girls will be a long way for you to travel. Unless at the beginning of the date you tell your date to do a runway walk and spin around with all the lights on.
In no way will you get any!
You have to clean your room, and make sure to remove any incriminating factors. You cant just fake being frum, the girl will know that your towel is covering your TV. It kind of seems like one of those MTV shows when the girl inspects the guys room.
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Hesh, it behooves you to try this service out and report back to your loyal readership.
Do a date and come back with a more fleshed out post. Pun intended.
TRS – if only someone could donate the money, so I can join this and Shaindy.com as well.
Write it off as a business expense!
I was thinking the thing about Skype. Maybe the shidduch date videos have some guys overseeing the dates to make sure people aren’t going to do any untznius webcam stuff. Can you actually picture any sane person laying out money for this type of service?
What will be really cool is when they set something like this up in virtual reality. Sounds kind of sci fi for now , but not too far off.
Then they can sell you a vacation package to exotic locations for your date. You could probably even get away with breaking virtual negiah, just as you can with operating a web site on Shabbos.
Just picture the scene: You go for shidduch date on the moon, if you like each other you go on a second date where you get to make out on Mars. Anything goes wrong, you just take off your headset.
Phil – virtual negiah, I like it.
For the record, I have actually seen a copy of the shidduch profiles magazine. If you can find one, read it- it’s a good laugh.
Shaindy.com?? Whatever for?
I know the guy behind Shidduch Vision. While I have my doubts as to the utility of the whole thing, the person running it has only the best of intentions.
Some details-
You can’t do Shidduch Vision at home (I think you misunderstood that Hesh) – you go to a special place where it’s set up. (So sorry, no underwear dates.)
They use high-end cameras, equipment, and Internet connections, so it definitely beats Skype.
I think the hope is to appeal to the frummiest market to begin with, assuming it can build out from there and not vice versa.
Shua,
Makes more sense (and dollars) if they’re targeting the “frummer than Skype” crowd, people with no internet connections, etc.
My question is how this helps people in different cities? Do they have centers in most major Jewish cities, or do people have to get airline tickets to use the service?
Also, do all the potential daters sit around in one room, or do they get private booths, kind of like those Xrated places that gave you a TV screen and a box of tissues.
I’d be afraid that the Shidduch Vision staff could monitor conversations on dates. If you go to their location and talk to your date on skype on their computer, it’s like having the frum police as chaperones on your dates. I think I’ll pass on this and take my chances on meeting someone without their help!
Eh, I don’t like the whole idea of getting all mad up and then sitting in front of a computer screen while my whole family screams and shouts on the floor below. But the idea of shiduch parties is quite exciting.
Shua if I would have known that I would have bashed the system even more. That sounds like a whole ordeal when you can just use any opther system for free.
lol! this is the funniest thing ive ever heard of. this post really brightend up my day!
It sounds like a Polycom to me. The camera is going to be way better than a Skype Cam. With no Makeup on you can secretly zoom up and see the other person’s pores.
My father sells them. You need a really fast connection, and they probably need someone somewhere doing special networking (packet-switching), it order to make sure that you get the camera quality (slightly higher than SD and sometimes HD cameras.)
Further, in theory, he might be cutting a deal with another polycom room in Baltimore- then you have to worry about multi-conferencing.
I’m single (23), my dad sells these things, and you couldn’t drag me in front of one most of the time by choice despite the fact that I have one sitting in my family’s kitchen. The blurriness of skype is less creepy. Being on TV, especially large ones *shudder* And it is not an ugly thing- it is that the cameras follow you around and track your movement. And they look at you too closely, and are not giving you mirror image, but an exact image of what the person of the other end would see. (People find that image ugly/unrecognizable- they recognize the reverse, or mirror, better)
It is an experience you either love or hate.
PLEASE LET IT SHUT DOWN.
I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE….
CAN SOMEONE FIND HESHY A JOB THAT WILL OCCUPY HIS TIME A BIT MORE?
PPPLLLEEEEEAAAASSSEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Thank you
AHAHAHAH
then what are you doing here buddy?
I’d like to see a shidduch date on second life–does yichud and negiah apply to avatars?
ShainaMaidel – Yes I believe they’re using Polycom, and the intent is to make it as high-quality as possible.
Phil – It’s supposed to be one-on-one in a private setting.
I could definitely see where some people will be uncomfortable with the idea, but to be fair I’ve also heard from people who are interested. Unfortunately, the people who are most excited about it are NOT the singles it’s intended for…
If they succeed and create something mainstream, people may become more comfortable…
Do people actually date via Skype? I should get a webcam and try that some time.
I don’t understand the fuss, nobody is being forced to use it, I’m sure you’d all agree even the anti semites among you, that if this seemingly silly idea would help couples go out who otherwise wouldn’t then it is a success why does it bother you so much. I wouldn’t use it, you don’t have to either. Get over it.
“over $25 each way” – It was only $18 the last time I went! (2 months ago)
” kind of like those Xrated places that gave you a TV screen and a box of tissues.”-Phil
Phil
How do you know about “those places”?Does you wife know you know about “those places”?
Bsamim,
Sounds like we’re heading back to the confession booth. Simply put, I’ve been around.
My wife is well aware of what I was like in my younger days as we met in our teenage years.
To be as much of a preachy Bible -Thumper as Phil, like the chaplain that was at one of my old bases, you have to have a pretty sordid past. In any religion, it seems.. How long before webcams catch up to polycom in quality?
HESHY: Maybe it will work for you if there are any girls old enough using the service! By dating standards you are ancient.
Maidel – I don’t really date – the whole marriage thing isn’t for me at the moment
So I was thinking the same thing, why not just use skype? Then I talked to someone about it. Apparently the difference is that shidduchvision is used at a certain location, because there is a worry that if two people are in the privacy of their own home, they will act “inappropriately”. A little too paranoid if you ask me. Besides, even if they do act inappropriately, you can always just hang up