ARTS&LIFE
TV
continued from page 60
62 | JULY 27 • 2023
Monday, July 31
• 5 p.m. VIP Wisdom Café
Donor Reception and Meet
and Greet with Aleeza Ben
Shalom — $180 per person
• 6:30 p.m. Main Event
“Behind the Scenes of
Jewish Matchmaking” with
Aleeza Ben Shalom, fol-
lowed by a book signing
and dessert. $50 per per-
son; www.aishdetroit.com/
aish/meaningful-date-night-
with-aleeza-ben-shalom
• Main Event and
SpeedDating. $100 per per-
son; www.aishdetroit.com/
aish/speeddating-with-alee-
za-ben-shalom
• 8:45 p.m. SpeedDating
Only and Dessert Afterglow
(three groups: 22-34,
34-50, 45-70) $50 per
person; www.aishdetroit.
com/aish/speeddat-
ing-with-aleeza-ben-shalom
and www.jotform.com/
form/231567453288162
For more information, go to
www.aishdetroit.com.
show, got engaged — but not to Fay. Though
they had great chemistry and were viewer
favorites, Fay broke off the relationship due
to religious incompatibility.
“Judaism is nuanced, and everyone has
their hard line of what will or won’t work,
and what direction they’re looking to go to
in the long term. Some have more flexibility;
some are out of the box. It takes dating and
a community. People who have a constant
curiosity about their partner help to grow a
beautiful relationship,
” Ben Shalom said.
“
After filming ended, Shaya said to me,
‘I’ve met someone who I’
d like to seriously
date,
’ and I coached him. A matchmaker
isn’t just an introducer. A matchmaker is a
mentor who helps to close a match and get
engaged or support a breakup.
”
EXECUTIVE MATCHMAKING
Since Jewish Matchmaking aired on May 3,
Ben Shalom has received thousands of appli-
cations for matchmaking and relationship
coaching. To help her with the initial inter-
views, along with executive matchmaking,
Ben Shalom works with lead matchmaker
Shana Tibi. Tibi, whose maiden name is
Subelsky, was born and raised in West
Bloomfield and will be at the July 31 event
at Aish.
Active in BBYO and at Camp Tamarack
growing up, Tibi was an undergrad at
Prescott College in Arizona and earned
her master’s of social work (MSW) from
California State University-Easy Bay. In 2018,
Tibi went on to earn her professional match-
maker certification from the Global Love
Institute and started her own matchmaking
and dating and relationship coaching busi-
ness, Curated Connections.
But when it came to meeting her future
Israeli husband, Rotem, you might just say
that he unlocked the key to her heart. As
a social worker in Oakland, California, in
2008, the then-Subelsky locked her keys in
the car while on a client home visit.
“In those days, I had a flip phone and I
had to call 411 directory assistance to con-
nect me with any locksmith I could find,
”
says Tibi. “The locksmith shows up and my
client tells him that ‘this lady is Jewish, and
you have to go out on a date with her.
’”
Well, it was bashert for Tibi. After eight
months of dating, Rotem took Shana to
Israel to meet his family.
“He proposed on the plane home to
California,
” said Tibi.
In 2010, Tibi made aliyah to Israel, where
she and Rotem were married. They live in
Kfar Vradim, about two hours from Tel Aviv
and about an hour and 20 minutes from Ben
Shalom. The Tibis have twin 10-year-old
girls and a son whose bar mitzvah will be
held next year in Israel.
“
Aleeza [Ben Shalom] and I knew each
other peripherally in the world of date rela-
tionship coaching and Jewish matchmaking
and social media. I knew she had moved to
Israel. Literally, we met and it was like an
JAMIE GORDON PHOTOGRAPHY
More than 350 people
attended the Jewish
Matchmaking Netflix Launch
party in Jerusalem on May 3
including stars, from far right,
Cindy Seni and Noah Del
Monte.