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The Matzo Ball is an annual
The Matzo Ball and similar events have been subject to mild criticism that the events are "meet markets"[8] or, more punningly, "[kosher] meat markets."[35][73] Women attendees tend to dress inappropriately in a revealing manner while men at the event are liable to use awkward pickup lines and noticeably prowl.[18][32][74]
The Greater Kansas City Council of BBYO and its AZA Nordaunian chapter sponsor a large annual teen dance called the Matzo Ball, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in April 2010.[71][72]
Smaller Jewish community entities have also used variations on the "Matzo Bowl" name for a variety of events, including for knowledge competitions held by individual synagogues[69] and fundraising events organized by chapters of Alpha Epsilon Pi.[70]
The [66] A 2009 Christmas Eve musical event at Brooklyn Bowl, co-sponsored by Israel's New York Consulate General, was dubbed "The Matzah Bowl".[67][68] The event derived its name in part from its location in a Brooklyn bowling alley.
[29] As of 2013, it is sponsored by the Canadian unit of the [29] An identically named Matzoball event has been held on Christmas Eve in Toronto since 1988.
The [62] or 1984.[63] The Dallas event continues under that name currently[64] and is unaffiliated with the Matzo Ball event and Rudnick.[20] Atlanta also had its own "Matzah Ball" for many years.[43]
Prior to Rudnick's organizing of the Matzo Ball in Boston in 1987 and expansion into other cities, Jewish organizations in other cities had used similar names for their own Christmas Eve singles events.
By the late 2000s and early 2010s, Schmooz-a-Palooza had become integrated into the Matzo Ball network of nationwide events[20][27] and faced competition from other local events, including a local young Jewish professionals charitable group's directly competing mixer and a Jewish comedy night at the Moishe Houses.[61]
Schmooz-a-Palooza is the long-running Los Angeles counterpart to the Matzo Ball, and in its 20th straight year in 2013.[1][55][56] It originated with Stu & Lew Productions, which was acquired by JDate in 2006.[30] The event evolved over the years from a social mixer to a party atmosphere, bringing together, for example, southern Californians who had not seen each other since their younger years in Jewish communal settings.[57][58] It was also a noted opportunity for reconnecting and romance.[59]
In Chicago, the local Federation's YLD, in conjunction with Taglit - Birthright Israel, FIDF, and other groups, sponsors the Matzo Bash.[53][54]
Other major cities have homegrown and well-attended Christmas Eve events that were established long before the Matzo Ball or The Ball entered the local scene. These include Seattle's Latkepalooza,[50] San Francisco's The Latke Ball,[51] Tampa's Vodka Latke,[1] and Phoenix's Mazelpalooza,[52] all of which are sponsored by their respective Jewish Federation's young professionals division.
Heeb Magazine sponsored and organized its 'Heebonism' events in various U.S. cities on Christmas Eve, targeted toward a "hip" audience seeking an alternative to events like the Matzo Ball, beginning in the late 2000s.[8][40][47] By 2009, Heebonism had expanded to five cities nationally.[8] Nationally, Heebonism organizers sought to offer a more "culturally substantive" and non-conformist event, with activities including "strip dreidel", video games, and light food.[8][47] At the Los Angeles/Palm Springs Heebonism in 2009, strip dreidel was led by porn stars James Deen and Joanna Angel.[48] In Denver, the local Heebonism event had its origin as a private pre-party for those seeking alternative entertainment before heading to the Matzo Ball.[49] By 2013, Heebonism had retrenched and Heebonism events outside of Denver apparently had been eliminated.
Atlanta, which had previously hosted an annual "Matzah Ball" unrelated to the SYJP event,[43] has been the home of competing events for both mainstream audiences, such as the 'Bagel Bash',[44][45] and niche groups, such as the local NCJW section's 'Santa Klutz Ball' for older singles.[46]
Beginning in 2010, an informal group of Washington, DC, Jewish young professionals decided to organize another competitor to the Matzo Ball, the Falafel Frenzy, with all proceeds going to charity.[42] The event has been successful in collecting money for local charities and continues to be held.[42]
In Washington, DC, a longtime competitor and alternative to the Matzo Ball has been the Gefilte Fish Gala, an event with no admission charge but only a requested donation, which is usually also held on Christmas Eve unless the night of the 24th coincides with Friday night, the Jewish sabbath.[41]
Likewise, by 2008, Chicago Jewish Christmas Eve events ran the gamut of tastes and preferred crowd. These included gatherings named 'Rockmitzvah', 'Hubukkah', the 'Heebonism' bash (sponsored by Heeb Magazine), and the more mainstream 'The Juju Ball' and 'Retro Eve', a long running but now defunct event.[40]
The sheer number of events, combined with the compactness of Manhattan, means that events are often held within a short walking distance, if not eyesight of one another.[32]
Other New York City Jewish Christmas Eve events include parties for "the pro-Israel crowd, Jewish gays and lesbians, and downtown Jewish hipsters."[14]
In 2008, the organizer of The Ball, LetMyPeopleGo, attempted to expand the event into 24 other cities with significant Jewish populations.[33][34] In almost all of those cities, with local marketing and co-hosting of the event performed by JDate,[35] it was cancelled near the event date.[33][35][36] However, the Los Angeles version of The Ball, which was instead co-sponsored and co-marketed by the young adults divisions of the LA Guardians, the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging foundation, was successful and held again in 2009.[37][38][39]
The largest and most geographically widespread competitor is known simply as "The Ball".[1] In New York City, The Ball focuses on having separate venues, five as of the late 2000s, targeted by age demographic, and with attendees receiving limousine service between venues.[14][32]
There are also a number of competitors to the Matzo Ball and other events organized in cities where no Matzo Ball is held.[1][14]
Matzo Ball events are organized by the Society of Young Jewish Professionals, an organization created by the founder of the event, Andy Rudnick.[1] The organizers believe that more than 1,000 marriages have resulted from meetings at various Matzo Balls, and Rudnick himself met his wife at a Matzo Ball.[1][31]
Prior to the mid-2000s, in Los Angeles, the Matzo Ball had ceded the region to the much more locally long-standing Schmooz-a-Palooza hosted by Stu & Lew Productions[1] (which was acquired by JDate in 2006[30]), before becoming a co-promoter for the event with JDate.[20] Since at least 2009, the Matzo Ball has partnered with JDate and has promoted as a Matzo Ball the JDate/Stu & Lew Productions Schmooz-a-Palooza.[20]
In past years, the Matzo Ball also held events in the following cities where it no longer does:
Matzo Ball events are generally held at popular nightclubs in the cities in which the event is located.[14] The event is typically scheduled to begin at 8 or 9 p.m. and run through the last call time for the state/locality, with peak attendance and crowds at approximately midnight.[18] As of 2014, it has expanded to the following cities:[2][19][20]
[17] The event has permeated American Jewish consciousness, even winding up in fiction.[1] The first Matzo Ball event was held in
Thus, with Christmas Day a work holiday throughout the United States, there is a space of unfilled free time during which much of American commerce and society is not functioning.[1][10] The night of December 24 has become an opportunity to transform this otherwise brief period of alienation or loneliness[1] into one made to gather, socialize, network, drink, flirt, and romance.[10][13] The event has turned Christmas Eve into a matchmaking or dating event for young Jews[1][14][15] and "the biggest singles night of the year."[16]
The atmosphere of religious liberalism and tolerance in the United States has offered American Jews the opportunity to enjoy the holiday period.[8][10] At the same time, many American Jews do not engage in the same family-gathering activities on the Christmas holiday that Christians in the United States do.[10][11][12]
Historically, Jews in Europe would hide in their homes and villages during the Christmas holiday, for fear of violence from locals.[8] In the United States, Christmas and Christmas Eve typically serve as times of family gathering and prayer for Christians and many others.[9]
There are a number of competing social events in Jewish communities throughout the country held that same night. In addition, Matzo Ball and similar spellings are also used as the names for a variety of other, unrelated Jewish community events in particular regions.
The name of the event is frequently styled as MatzoBall,[3][4] Matzah Ball[3][5] or MatzahBall.[6][7]
[2][1]
Democratic Party (United States), United Kingdom, San Fernando Valley, San Diego, London
San Jose, California, San Mateo County, California, Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay Area, Presidio of San Francisco
Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Staten Island
/ia, United Kingdom, /ia (U.S. state), United States, Tokyo
Israel, Barack Obama, Franklin D. Roosevelt, New York metropolitan area, Judaism
Academy Awards, Single person, Valentine's Day, Christmas Eve, Matzo Ball
Conservative Judaism, Jewish Community Center, Israel, Orthodox Judaism, Zionism
Oclc, Orthodox Judaism, Jews, American Jews, B'nai B'rith
North America, Synagogue, Reconstructionist Judaism, American Jews, B'nai B'rith
Jewish Federations of North America, American Jews, B'nai B'rith, Jewish Community Center, American Jewish Committee