Good news, dudes: Reform Jewish leaders in many communities report that females outnumber males as much as 2-to-1 in areas ranging from summer camp to synagogue leadership, so your chances for finding a hot date after shul are pretty high. However, there’s concern that men are feeling abandoned by religion.
“Men just don’t know where they fit in,” said Doug Barden, executive director of the Reform movement’s North American Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. “They’re kind of betwixt and between.”
Sandwiched betwixt two cuties doesn’t seem like something any male we know would complain about, but some are blaming it on the feminist flavor of Reform Judaism. Programming has headed into “touchy-feely” and discussion-based activities in past decades, and leaders plan to attract more males with team-building and sports.
C’mon guys, bring it back home. And bring your bros.

Hey- we didn’t say it. It sure looks like JDate sure has pissed a lot of people off with their hardline pricing policies. Did we mention Jmerica is free?

Proof that our Premiere Party at the Astor last week kicked ass abounds. Firstly, we were amused to find that the last shot on our camera was of the sun rising over South Beach! Even Lesley Abravanel from The Miami Herald took notice:

“Although Grass may not have necessarily been actively looking for a companion, for many who frequent places like it, a major issue in life is finding a nice Jewish boy or girl to settle down with. Assisting in this crusade is Jmerica.com, a Jewish dating service whose launch party took place at the Astor last Saturday, which is a dating service in its own right, really, considering the numbers of singles who frequent the place every Saturday night just as they would church or temple.”

Our mother will definitely kvell. We’ll have a full feature about the party along with pictures later.

Mazel tov to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, who welcomed their baby daughter, Apple Blythe Alison, to the world on Friday. Sure, it’s easy to make fun but we at Jmerica are partial to unusual names for the younguns. We also dig Mama Gwyneth’s decision to stay home and act like a mother, but if we see any paparazzi pics of her and baby lunching with a nanny at Ivy her Jewish Mother license will be revoked.

Girl Scout Troop 2007 of Scarsdale, NY is sending care packages full of candy, notes and, of course, those famous Girl Scout cookies to a group of Palestinian girls in East Jerusalem in an effort to bring a few crumbs of peace to the Middle East.
“The knee-jerk reaction to our project is often shock and sometimes mistrust,” explains Judith Lederman, one of the troop leaders for Troop 2077. “But after some thought people realize that this isn’t about politics — it’s about girls getting to know each other — and if it can help change some attitudes, we are fulfilling our Girl Scout promise to help make the world a better place.”
Everyone knows cookies make everything better and we applaud the Scouts for their creativity, enthusiasm and optimism. We hope those thin mints and Lorna Doones go just as well with a glass of goat milk.

Modesto, CA, not exactly a bastion of Jewish culture, boasts one certified kashrut eating establishment: Krispy Kreme donuts. No animal lard here- just good old-fashioned vegetable shortening and lots and lots of sugar. May we suggest pairing a plate of glazed goodies with a nice Shabbos wine this evening?

Cute and Jewish Miriam Felton-Dansky tries out that other Jewish singles site– and meets a bunch of lame-o’s. She was especially appalled by the lack of grammatical finesse from the potential suitors, leading us to wonder if it’s possible to spellcheck an IM. Jmericans: Remember your written personality is the first attribute by which anyone could unfairly judge you, so dredge up that ol’ Webster’s and put it to work.

Forget those dang white-bread Pilgrims! Historians are celebrating the 350th year of the first Jewish settlers’ touchdown on American shores (that’s the year 1654, for the mathematically-challenged.) Of course, all the cooking, cleaning and housewarming was done by some tough-ass Jewish wives and mamas, as chronicled in The Jewish Women’s Archive. Next time we get pissy about not having a dishwasher, we’ll remember times have been much, much harder…

Action Man/California governor Schwarzenegger was in Jerusalem this month to break ground at the New Museum for Tolerance, which some might find ironic. The Californian contingency of Jmerica finds it surreal, but not unpleasantly so. We even watched Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines last week and didn’t vomit. Perhaps the idea that a bodybuilding son-of-a-Nazi can climb his way through celebrity to politics to potential peace in the Middle East has shortcircuited our motherboards.

Ivan Urquiza has been convicted of romancing women then stealing their money, credit and MAC lipsticks (okay, we made the last part up) in South Florida. This unscrupulous Lothario told detectives he preferred to target Jewish women because “he thought they would have more money.” Those poor women, since they probably were only dating him because they thought he’d have a bigger schlong.