NYC’s Gen Z Jews have a sexy new pick-up scene: ‘millennial rabbi’ shabbat with sushi, wine and a DJ
Come for the blessings, stay for the pick-up 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 become the city’s hot new singles scene.
“Everyone’s very attractive. Three different guys got my number!” said Jade Shenker, 28, a commercial real estate broker who has appeared on the show “Owning Manhattan.”
Shenker has been attending Bortz’s weekly Shabbat gatherings since first hitting up a Soul X Seder event last April.
“It was a vibe and there were a lot of hot guys. I was like ‘Wait, I love this,’” Shenker, who does not consider herself “super religious,” told The Post.
Bortz said the events provide natural conversation starters.
“They get people connected,” he told The Post. “It makes me happy to see all of the dates, friendships, business deals and real sense of community and belonging that results from these elevated, in-person experiences.”
On a typical Friday night, he leads prayers followed by a grounding meditation at locations that have included a Flatiron loft and a Billionaires’ Row apartment over looking Central Park. Shabbat dinners come with a DJ and a sprinkling of Torah teachings, and guests mingle over cocktails, non-kosher canapés and shared spiritual values.
Prices range from $65 to $105 a person, and Bortz occasionally hosts events in Miami and on the West Coast as well as special high-holiday gatherings.
After becoming an ordained rabbi in Israel in 2011, Bortz, who is from Southern California, wanted to make religious teachings more appealing to his peers.
“I realized early on it had to be relatable. I started doing outdoor meditations for Shabbat. We had a Shabbat tent at Coachella. I started sharing Torah wisdom through Instagram for the modern Jew of today,” he said of starting Soul X in 2018.
Morgan Raum, a food influencer who lives on the Upper East side, told The Post it’s not unusual for sparks to fly at the Soul X Shabbat dinner after-party, which she says is ripe for “platonic and romantic connections.”
“One couple event 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 it easy to chat.
“In Judaism, you go to temple, you listen to stuff, but it’s a lot different when you listen and really resonate with it. Rabbi Daniel does such a good job with making it more engaging. You meditate a little bit — it’s really cool,” she said.
One after-dinner Soul X conversation led to a date after the guy Shenker met slid into her DMs later that night. (They ended up deciding to stay friends.)
Flatiron-based Alex Betesh, 36, who works in tech and considers herself as a “secular Jew,” heard about Soul X around a year ago and decided to attend a sound bath meditation at a Soho loft.
“I was having an off week. 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 the time,” she said.
“All the people there were so kind and nice. It wasn’t like a desperate singles vibe [but] I have gone on dates from meeting people there,” Betesh said.
She called it more “real and sustainable” than dating apps or the bar scene. Generally, in NYC, she said, “You’re not really finding a wholesome way to connect with people.” Plus, “I left there feeling more fulfilled.”