Cruise the Web and you'll find several outstanding Jewish dating services that successfully bring together singles from across the globe. American Jews have met their matches in Israel and vice versa countless times. Which isn't to say that Australian Jews haven't met South African Jews; this is, after all, the World Wide Web.

In the past, Jewish dating services have employed coffee outings, lunch dates, and the now-famous "speed dating" circuit to bring together singles from Jewish backgrounds. The problem with these methods, namely the latter, is that there's only so much you can glean about a potential date or mate in a matter of 60 seconds. Generally, it's enough to learn where the person's from, what they do, what kind of car they drive, and what ZIP code they live in. Not exactly the building blocks of an authentic long-term relationship.

Some Insight into Jewish Dating Services

These perfunctory meetings are widely accepted by Jewish singles for a variety of reasons, but there's one that's an especially powerful engine. Assimilation is a word that almost every Jewish youth has heard from his or her rabbi or parents, and it's seldom uttered with any sort of affection or even acceptance. As Jews make up less than half of one percent of the world's population, assimilation, or blending into other cultures, is a palpable fear among Jewish leaders. What, they wonder, will come of the Jewish identity in an entirely homogenous world?

That may be an exaggerated worry, but it's nevertheless powerful enough to keep many Jews from dating outside their religion. It's no wonder, then, that so many Jewish dating services are flush with applicants. So robust is this market, that by one estimation, one of every 10 Jewish singles currently subscribes to the most popular Jewish dating Web site.