Come for the blessings, stay for the takeover scene
Gen Z and Millennial New Yorkers are tapping into their Jewish roots in a more spiritual way—and finding potential suitors—at Rabbi Daniel Bortz’s Soul X events.
Bortz, 38, is known as @millennial rabbi on Instagram and hosts non-traditional spiritual gatherings, including sound baths and Shabbat sushi dinners, in fabulous lofts and apartments around Manhattan. It’s quickly becoming the new singles scene in town.
“Everyone is very attractive. Three different guys got my number!” said Jade Shenker, 28, a commercial real estate agent who has appeared on the show “Owning Manhattan.”
Shenker has attended Bortz’s weekly Shabbat gatherings since the Soul X Seder event began last April.
“It was an atmosphere and there were a lot of hot guys. I was like, ‘Wait, I like this,'” Shenker, who doesn’t consider herself “super religious,” told The Post.
Bortz said the events provide natural conversation starters.
“They connect people,” he told The Post. “It makes me happy to see all the meetings, friendships, business deals and the real sense of community and belonging that results from these uplifting, live experiences.”
On a typical Friday night, he leads prayers followed by an earthly meditation in locations that have included a Flatiron loft and an apartment on Billionaires’ Row overlooking Central Park. Shabbat dinners come with a DJ and a sprinkling of Torah lessons, and guests mingle over cocktails, non-kosher canapés, and shared spiritual values.
Prices range from $65 to $105 per person, and Bortz occasionally hosts events in Miami and on the West Coast, as well as special gatherings during the high holidays.
After becoming an ordained rabbi in Israel in 2011, Bortz, who is from Southern California, wanted to make religious studies more engaging for his peers.
“I realized early on that it had to be connected. I started doing outdoor meditations for Shabbat. We had a Shabbat tent at Coachella. I started sharing Torah wisdom through Instagram for today’s modern Jew,” he said of Soul X’s 2018 launch.
Morgan Raum, a food influencer who lives on the Upper East Side, told The Post that it’s not unusual for sparks to fly at Soul X Shabbat’s after-party dinner, which she says is ripe for “connection platonic and romantic”.
“A couple got engaged after meeting!” Raum, 27, said. “And they introduced me to my now boyfriend.”
Shenker, who lives on the Upper West Side, said the upbeat environment makes for easy conversation.
“In Judaism, you go to the temple, you hear things, but it’s very different when you hear and resonate with it. Rabbi Daniel does such a good job making it more appealing. You meditate a little bit — it’s really nice,” she said.
An after dinner conversation Soul X led to a date after the boy Shenker put them in her DMs later that night. (They ended up deciding to stay friends.)
Flatiron-based Alex Betesh, 36, who works in technology and considers herself a “secular Jew,” heard about Soul X about a year ago and decided to attend a wellness meditation in a loft in Soho.
“I had a week off. I just turned 36 and being single in New York is hard because there are people everywhere, but it’s kind of a lonely city. People don’t have a lot of the same values as you a lot of times,” she said.
“All the people there were so nice and kind. It wasn’t like a desperate singles vibe [but] I went to meetings from meetings with people there,” Betesh said.
She called it more “real and sustainable” than dating apps or the bar scene. In general, in NYC, she said, “You’re not really finding a healthy way to connect with people.” Plus, “I left there feeling more fulfilled.”
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Image Source : nypost.com