JUMP marks year 3

It takes little effort for the rush of everyday life in Toronto to surround and consume the time and attention of its culturally diverse-yet-assimilated population. Aside from the more observant folks within the Jewish community, for young professionals the need to connect intellectually, spiritually or in a cultural vein varies a great deal.

JUMP (Jewish Urban Meeting Place) which is among the handful of organizations that strive to strengthen the neshama of today's Jewish youth,  is celebrating another year of tremendous growth. And the three-year-old center wants you to join in the festivities.  

Have you been on one of the amazing trips to New York City in the winter? Israel in the summer? Attended one of their social events shabbat dinners, volunteer opportunities or classes? Do you plan to check one out in the near future? Get your feet wet with an all-out greet and meet anniversary party this Thursday starting at 8 p.m. at This is London.


Get up close to Canadian Idol winner Brian Melo as he performs live. Or shake it with the samba squad, chow down on some delicious food and walk away not just with swag, but maybe a phone number or two of those cute guys and gals you've been eyeing all night?

For more information on tickets to the event or to get involved click here.

Relationships to Love in the Digital Age

In the near three years now that JUMP (Jewish Urban Meeting Place) has been in operation, here in Toronto, there have been quite a few talks on the subject of love, dating and relationships. Now it might look strange that love, dating and relationships are written here separately. Often times they get combined into just one of these three terms. Clearly from the talk last week led by Jason ("JR") Renard on the top tips to online dating, they each in fact exist in their own orbit.



JR defined love as the proper name we give to the overwhelming affection we feel towards another person, favorite family pet and/or for some, to an inanimate object. We navigate through the few or many relationships we have with the same or opposite sex via the vehicle of dating. The intention in large part is to find our Beshert or "the one", whom we will ultimately marry and with whom we will intimately share our life.

Here he reflected on his two dealings with the types of users commonly found on all the popular and probably even on the not so popular online dating sites. The first experience ended horribly and was just about enough to turn him away for good. The second well...



To really understand relationships and love and find success in a world of online dating, JR's top tip was to be truthful and honest. When going beyond what we see in embellished profiles and cropped photo-shopped pictures, open yourself up to learning how to give, receive, maintain and cultivate love through the intimacy of face to face conversation.

Top Tips for Online Dating...Coming Soon

Dating and finding your Beshert or "the one" is one of the most difficult tasks we encounter in life, a point many seem to agree on. This week JUMP the Jewish Urban Meeting Place ran a talk on how to make online dating work for you. Instead of explaining it all in written form here on the Shmooze. check back next week for the in-depth discussion. We recorded all the major points on video for you all to see.