Publication: Boca Raton News, December 28, 2003
by Ashley Harrell
Jewish circle connects at Radius
Memo to: the fruitcake and fa-la-la crowd.
Not all of us are saying ho-ho-ho at this time of year. In fact, the closer a certain holiday gets, the more inclined some of us are to say oy oy oy.
Especially on Christmas Eve. All of a sudden, there's no more satisfaction to be gained by watching friends and co-workers drive themselves nuts as they try to finish their Christmas shopping. Their misery is finally over and their fun is beginning.
For those who don't celebrate Christmas, the Chinese-food-and-a-movie routine (try to find anywhere else to go on Christmas Eve) gets really old.
Which is why there's a Matzo Ball.
No, not the kind floating in your soup - although if the Matzo Ball turns out as well as the organizers hope, it will be as restorative for long- suffering Jewish singles as a bowl of chicken soup is for loudly sniffling cold-sufferers.
"It's an opportunity for Jewish people to get together at a time when they often feel isolated because of all the activity around Christmas," said Dan Schwartz, chairman of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Young Jewish Professionals Inc.
And not just in Philadelphia either. SYJP chapters will sponsor Matzo Balls in 12 cities this year, said Schwartz. The 30,000 people expected to attend make it one of the largest parties in the country, he said.
The Philadelphia party - starting at 8 p.m. Saturday at Egypt, on Delaware Avenue - has been held for 10 years and attracts about 1,200 people, Schwartz said.
Despite its lighthearted title, the event has a serious purpose. The idea, not just behind the Matzo Ball but the one that guides all SYJP events, is ''to further the relationships and ultimately marriage of Jewish people to other Jewish people," he said.
Sean Schwinghammer, the event director for SYJP headquarters in Miami, said that one of his best friends met his wife at the Boca Raton Matzo Ball in 1990. "They just had their first baby," he said.
Nor is the event solely for singles. Schwartz and his wife, whom he met at an SYJP party in Boston, have stayed active in the group and will attend this year's Matzo Ball.
"I know it sounds hokey, but we wanted to give back to the community," he said. Plus, he said, it's a chance to go dancing.
In Boston, Washington and Boca Raton, the SYJP also will sponsor Christmas Eve "Big Chill" parties for people 27 to 49, Schwinghammer said. "They're a little smaller, a little more intimate, and the music is a little different," he said.
At the Philadelphia Matzo Ball, Egypt's regular disc jockey will play dance music. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and you don't have to be a member of the SYJP - or even Jewish - to attend. For advance tickets, call 800-829-0404.
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