In June of 2018, OU-JLIC launched JLIConnections, our new online dating platform. The site was launched to help connect students and young alumni across the United States, Israel and Canada. The site was set up in mind to bring a sense of community and personal connection into the dating process. Ten different Shidduchim have been made since our launch! The site currently has over 460 active members!

We briefly spoke to Avi and Ahava, a recent couple who met through the site.

Avi and Ahava, both grew up in Brooklyn and went to Brooklyn College yet had never met before! At different points, they decided to join OU-JLIC’s JLIConnections. Avi had a strong connection with Rabbi Reuven and Shira Boshnack (OU-JLIC at Brooklyn College Campus Directors) and continued to stay close to the Boshnacks after he graduated. Ahava had signed up as she was looking for a new outlet for dating and meeting different people. Their official Shadchan on the site was someone that neither of them had known previously.  Their Shadchan was from YUConnects, JLIConnections partner site.

Avi had been on site for about a year, consistently getting matches until he matched with Ahava (and the rest is history!). Ahava had joined a little bit after the site launched and had been receiving matches on a consistent basis as well, her Shadchan followed up with her weekly which created a personal element to the site.

Rabbi Reuven and Shira Boshnack played a helpful role as their relationship developed. Avi and Ahava started dating, got engaged and married all during COVID. Dating during this challenging time was definitely not easy! Both felt that having the Boshnacks to turn to was incredibly helpful for them. Avi had been involved with OU-JLIC on campus and was close with the Boshnacks. Ahava had been less involved with the program, but as her relationship with Avi developed, so did her relationship with the Boshnacks. 

The connection with the Boshnacks became more prominent after they got engaged. While Avi and Ahava were dating, unfortunately Avi’s mom got sick. She passed away soon after they got engaged. Rabbi Boshnack spoke at the funeral and Shira helped arrange meals during that time. The ability to have someone to turn to during that incredibly hard time was important to Avi and Ahava.

When asked how they felt the site was different from other dating avenues. Avi thought that the quality of people on the site were more interested in “serious dating”. The suggestions that he received were more likely to lead to a date and found people on the site to be more motivated overall. Ahava had come from a more rigid shidduch system, so the site felt different from the start. One element of the site is that once members match and agree to go out, they tend to talk directly rather than consistently going through the Shadchan.

To learn more about JLIConnections, check out our website at www.jliconnections.com