20 | JANUARY 6 • 2022 

F

or 10 years, Rebbetzin 
Rachel Tessler Lopatin 
has worked as a 
volunteer matchmaker for 
SawYouAtSinai, an online 
matchmaking platform for 
Jewish singles. She’s helped 
create thousands of dates 
worldwide, more than a 
dozen of which have led to 
marriage. 
“If you know the type of 
person they’re searching 
for, you will hopefully 
be able to connect them 
with great people,” she 
says of matchmakers like 
herself who strive to make 
connections between Jewish 
singles.
The Lopatin family is 
Modern Orthodox, giving 
Tessler Lopatin a unique 

understanding of the 
community and an edge 
in Jewish matchmaking. 
She says family members 
will often tell her, “You 
understand the subtleties of 
it.”
Recently, Tessler Lopatin, 
54, of Huntington Woods 
and wife of JCRC/AJC 
Executive Director Rabbi 
Asher Lopatin, spoke about 
her matchmaking process 
and offered advice for 
Jewish singles on a new 
Jewish podcast, America’s Top 
Rebbetzins.
“We all need to be thinking 
about people who are single,” 
she says of the human power 
to foster connections. “The 
more people you meet, the 
more people you are able to 

connect other people with. 
There’s good that results 
from that.”
While dating and finding 
a life partner may be the 
ultimate goal for many 
who turn to online dating 
platforms, Tessler Lopatin 
says the benefits go far 
beyond love.
“Friendships have been 
made; jobs have been made,” 
she describes. “Sometimes 
I’ll introduce people and 
there’s no love connection, 
but they invite them to a 
Shabbat meal and then they 
connect with someone else 
there, or they see them at 
kiddush.”

MAKING A MATCH
Matchmaking is for 

everyone, Tessler Lopatin 
believes. “I work with people 
from all backgrounds and all 
over the world,” she says. 
 Many of her matches have 
been long distance, especially 
during the COVID-19 
pandemic, when lockdowns 
and health restrictions made 
location matter less, and 
connection and interaction 
matter more.
In making a match, Tessler 
Lopatin says she factors in 
different criteria: “What 
are the things that they can 
be flexible on and what 
are the things that they’re 
not willing to be flexible 
on?” “Are they flexible 
religiously?”
Some people, she explains, 
look for a partner with the 

OUR COMMUNITY

ABOVE: Rabbi Asher 
Lopatin, Rebbetzin Rachel 
Tessler Lopatin, children 
Judah, Shayna, Gideon 
and Cara Lopatin.

Local matchmaking expert who has created 
thousands of dates shares her dating advice.

Connecting 
 Jewish Singles

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

