#581 Elana Joffe (New York, New York)
& Mike Cohen (NYC, New York)

Success Story

SawYouAtSinai (SYAS) and I go back a long way. I met Marc Goldmann, the co-founder of SYAS, on a ski trip and we have been friends ever since. A number of years ago, I was invited to a brainstorming session on naming Marc's developing Jewish matchmaking site. I came up with the name “SawYouAtSinai” because it applied to both the more religious element and the more modern element, and also had a bit of a pickup line sound to it: “You look familiar...did I see you at Sinai?” Everyone liked it so much that they all voted for it…except me! Despite my initial reservations about online dating, I joined SYAS at its inception. Meanwhile, Mike had been on the site for two years before we met. Despite growing up in different countries, Mike and I have had many friends in common over the years and probably had been in the same room a number of times, but we never met until SYAS introduced us. We were matched in late 2009 and went out in January 2010 while I was in Israel visiting my family. For our first date we went on a short drive and then to a coffee shop and the conversation just flowed. After that, our relationship was mostly long distance – Mike was initially in Israel, where he lived and grew up, and was then working Texas for a number of months while I was in New York. When we were in different cities, we kept in touch by email, instant messaging, Skype, and talking on the phone and our relationship developed and grew stronger over time. After going out for about 8 months, we got engaged in February 2011. He proposed to me in Philadelphia just before returning to Israel, but being very gallant and traditional, he didn't want to make it public until he got my parents' approval. A few days after arriving in Israel, he went to visit my parents and I woke up with an e-mail from my mother wishing me mazel tov! SYAS was great because in Mike’s words “it combines the ancient art of the matchmaking tradition with modern technology to allow people from all over the globe to meet each other. In the past, people used to write letters to each other, but with computers we can have more instantaneous connection even when we are thousands of miles apart.” Mike also likes to emphasize that we didn’t meet ON the site, because we didn't just date each other online; rather we met VIA the site. SYAS encourages a level of seriousness in dating in that you don't just view people's profiles and exchange emails; you are encouraged to call and go out on a real date. Our matchmaker Anna Aronovitch was phenomenal. She had a very good sense of me and who would be appropriate for me. I took all of her suggestions seriously because they were generally on target, so when she suggested Mike, of course I trusted her and went out with him. Our relationship developed naturally and grew stronger over time and it's hard to imagine now what life would have been like had we not met. Did we ever have any challenges? Yes, but what really pulled us through was honesty, communication, and being able to compromise. We also had great friends to rely on and were blessed to have parents and siblings who serve as good role models. Today we are very happy to be married and are grateful to SYAS for introducing us! Elana and Mike were married in Yerushalayim on Erev Yom Yerushalayim in May 2011. They now live together in New York City.