Dating Advice From Bubbes and Zaydes at the Los Angeles Jewish Home

When it comes to sage advice, we often turn to the seniors at the Los Angeles Jewish Home who have "been there, done that" in many areas of life.

With Valentine's Day approaching this weekend, the Los Angeles Jewish Home has released a video with some practical dating advice to those seeking love at any age from experts who have seen it all before. 

Jonathan, 28 and single, interviews 12 bubbes and zaydes who pull no punches in giving him  their best suggestions for success in love. Sympathetic and wise; practical and nurturing; funny and sweet — the seniors make the perfect matchmakers. They know from experience what it takes to light a spark and turn it into a flame.

The video was published in honor of "Sweetheart's Day," evidently a euphemism for Valentine's Day for those who feel it's not a holiday that Jews should celebrate. But for the last few years we have been publishing the "hechsher" for celebrating the day that Rabbi Benjamin Blech, professsor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, has written about Valentine's Day on the aish.com website, 

As Jews, we may not be sure whether it's proper for us to join the party. After all, for the longest time the full name of this holiday was “St. Valentine's Day” because of its legendary link with the apocryphal story of one of the earliest Christian saints. Yet academics aren't the only ones who have recognized the dubious historical basis of this connection. Vatican II, the landmark set of reforms adopted by the Catholic Church in 1969, removed Valentine's Day from the Catholic church's calendar, asserting that "though the memorial of St. Valentine is ancient… apart from his name nothing is known… except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on 14 February."

What's left for this day, as proponents of its universal celebration declare, is something that people of all faiths may in good conscience observe: A day in which to acknowledge the power of love to make us fully human.

When I am asked as a rabbi if I think it's a good idea for Jews to celebrate Valentine's Day, my standard answer is, "Yes, we should celebrate love… every day of the year."

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)