The Matzo Ball is an annual Christmas Eve nightlife event and party held in a number of major cities in the United States targeted primarily at young Jewish singles and organized by Mazel Events, LLC (previously the Society of Young Jewish Professionals).Jessica Gresko, Dec. 24 Becomes Party Night for Jewish Singles, Associated Press (Washington Post), December 24, 2006Mike Cohen, Famous Matzo Ball parties to land here, Jewish Tribune (Canada), November 10, 2009
The name of the event is frequently styled as MatzoBallJoe Berkofsky, Christmas time inspires Jews 'to express own Jewishness' , JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency), reprinted in j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California, December 20, 2002Party pics: 12th Annual MatzoBall party, MetroMix.com, 2008 (with capitalization as Matzoball or matzoball) or misspelled as Matzah BallThe Matzah Ball at KISS & FLY - Thursday, Dec 24th 2009, Rhythmism.com – Upcoming Events forum, 2009 or MatzahBall.Roy S. Gutterman, Hitting the Road to Check Out the Scene During Holiday Season, The (Philadelphia) Jewish Exponent, January 8, 2009Society of Young Jewish Professionals, Press Release: Record 10,000 Jewish Singles to Attend Matzo Ball Parties on December 24, PRWebDirect.com, December 20, 2005
There are a number of competing social events in Jewish communities throughout the U.S. and Canada held that same night. In addition, Matzo Ball and similar spellings are also used as the names for a variety of other, unrelated Jewish community events in particular regions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the organizing of the Matzo Ball and other Christmas Eve Jewish events has been consistently in flux. In 2020, the Matzo Ball transitioned late to an all-virtual, worldwide online speed dating format, while local Jewish community groups throughout the United States and Canada on the whole did not organize Christmas Eve events for 2020 (although some limited online substitutes were offered), nor did Tribester.com, which had purchased Matzo Ball competitor 'The Ball'. In 2021, the Matzo Ball proceeded with in-person events in seven U.S. cities under the local government pandemic restrictions in place, in addition to a simultaneous online speed dating alternative that night. Tribester.com postponed its event, while some, although not all, local Jewish community organizations nationwide reemerged with events on December 24 (or December 23 to avoid overlap with the Jewish sabbath beginning on the night of December 24).
In 2022, the Matzo Ball was scheduled to be held in six cities, with video speed dating no longer offered. Improved pandemic conditions led to many communities returning to pre-pandemic event organizing, while others scheduled their events earlier in the month to correspond with the Hanukkah holiday beginning earlier in the week, and some traditional events did not return from pandemic hiatuses. Tribester again did not host a 'Tribal Ball' event.
Background
Historical
Historically, Jews in Europe would hide in their homes and villages during the Christmas holiday, for fear of violence from locals.What's a Jew to do on Christmas Eve?, JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency), December 17, 2009 In the United States, Christmas and Christmas Eve typically serve as times of family gathering and prayer for Christians and many others.Jennifer 8. Lee, A Season of More, New York Times, December 24, 2008
The atmosphere of religious liberalism and tolerance in the United States has offered American Jews the opportunity to enjoy the holiday period.Marc Tracy, Christmas is the Greatest Jewish Holiday, The New Republic, December 19, 2013
At the same time, many American Jews do not engage in the same family-gathering activities on the Christmas holiday that Christians in the United States do.Brenda Lane Richardson, Deciding to Celebrate Christmas, or Not, New York Times, December 16, 1987Daniel J. Wakin, Off on Yom Kippur? It's Probably Time To Work a Holiday, New York Times, December 22, 2003
Social With Christmas Day a work holiday throughout the United States, there is a space of unfilled free time during which much of American commerce and society is not functioning, and which could lead to a sense of alienation or loneliness for American Jews.Hundreds of Jewish singles in Palm Beach County will spend Christmas Eve mingling, China Daily, December 24, 2008Arlene Vigoda, Cry No More, USA Today, December 13, 1993Emma Hinchliffe, Jews can party Christmas Eve at Matzoball gathering, Houston Chronicle, December 22, 2015Steven Ginsberg, For Some, A Matzo Ball Of a Party, Washington Post, December 25, 1999
Typical contemporary activities were usually limited to "Chinese and a movie"Marziah Karch, Happy Chinese and a Movie, Wired, December 24, 2014Julie Wiener, The joy of not celebrating Christmas, JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency), December 24, 2013Simon Vozick-Levinson, Chinese food and movies: A Christmas tradition, Entertainment Weekly, December 25, 2009—consuming a meal at a Chinese restaurant, which tend to be open for business on the Christmas holiday, and watching a movie at the theater or at home, stereotypically a rerun of It's a Wonderful Life.Marshall Heyman, 'Tis the Season For Matzo Balls, Wall Street Journal, December 27, 2010Jodi Duckett, Jewish Singles Mingle Christmas Eve, Allentown Morning Call, December 18, 1995Robert Gluck, What young Jews do on Christmas Eve, Los Angeles Jewish Journal, December 20, 2011
The Matzo Ball, and similar local events, provide an opportunity to gather, socialize, catch up with old friends, network, drink, flirt, and romance.Jennifer 8. Lee, Things to Do if You Don't Do Christmas, New York Times, December 23, 2004 The event has turned Christmas Eve into a matchmaking or dating event for young JewsBen Harris and Jacob Berkman, Hitting the Matzo Balls on Christmas Eve, JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency), December 31, 2007 This Jewish singles party comes but once a year, Christmas Eve has become the hottest annual date for meeting a potential mate, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 25, 2003, available via Newsbank Archives and "the biggest singles night of the year."Meredith Goldstein, Looking for a marry little holiday?, Boston Globe, December 24, 2008 The event is an opportunity to meet "'a lot of like-minded people dressed up to have a good time, network, find their mate'."
Whether "by their own volition or by the insistent nudging of their parents and grandparents," many young American Jews now attend these Christmas Eve singles events. They have become an annual rite of passage for single Jews in their 20s and 30s. For these people, the Matzo Ball also functions as an annual reunion of sorts, offering a chance to see fellow attendees each year.
While some party-goers admit that they attend with an eye toward flirting, romance, or at least finding a short-term makeout or sexual partner, others maintain that they go only to spend time with friends, dance, drink cocktails, and because of a lack of other options on Christmas Eve.Joel Stein, The MatzoBall Is the Season's Hottest Not-Christmas Party, Bloomberg Businessweek, December 17, 2015 (Drinking at the Matzo Ball, though promoted by much advertisement for the event, is officially not endorsed by the event organizers.)
Christmas Eve events such as the Matzo Ball also tend to draw some young American Jews "out of the woodwork" for drinking and socializing who are: (1) otherwise difficult to draw into involvement with the Jewish organizations,Jack Werthheimer, The New Jewish Leaders: Reshaping the American Jewish Landscape, University Press of New England, 2011, p. 7 and (2) are perceived as more dateable or hip than people who attend typical Jewish events.
Event The first Matzo Ball event was held in Boston in 1987 and organized by local social figure Andrew Rudnick.
As a Boston University senior in political science and part-time bartender in 1986, Rudnick attended a Jewish young professionals Christmas Eve gathering at a local hotel, where he found a staid atmosphere similar to a high school prom, with women on one side of the room, and men on the other. The environment, including the strong lighting, waits to purchase drink tickets and to receive a drink, bad music, and stale latkes were not conductive to meeting people and having fun.James Kirchick, Matzoball Memories: My uncle, godfather of the Jewish singles business, created a Christmas Eve tradition, Tablet Magazine, December 22, 2014
Following that incident, Rudnick began developing the idea for hosting an event the next December 24 at the nightclub he then bartended part-time at, Metro. He and his friends built up awareness of the upcoming event through word of mouth, especially through fraternities and sororities with Jewish memberships, posters, and flyers hand-distributed, including at malls. Some coverage of the event by local radio DJs, who invited Rudnick on-air to promote it, and Rudnick's on-air exaggerations about expected ticket sales, helped spread the word and 2,000 people attended the first Matzo Ball. Rudnick soon quit his job in commercial real estate to focus on the organization and event, and expanding to other cities.
The name of the event and the name of the organization were created on-the-spot in 1987. The event name was inspired by Rudnick's Irish-American coworker's question about Jewish cuisine, and the organization's name was thought up by Rudnick and his Italian-American nightclub bosses, Boston entertainment mogul brothers John and Patrick Lyons, who were concerned about offending both Jews and Christians with the stereotypical name Matzo Ball for an event being held on Christmas Eve, and harming the club's reputation.Heather Robinson, MatzoBall Founder Launches 'MatzoBowl', New York Jewish Week, April 3, 2013 Other names for the event considered by Rudnick were 'Tribe Trot' and 'Heeb Hop', both of which were rejected upon the recommendation of Rudnick's mother, who also found the name Matzo Ball to be cute.
After a successful repeat of the event on Christmas Eve 1988, Rudnick expanded to New York and Boca Raton in 1989, and added Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles in 1990.Jenny Singer, The Titan Of Jewish Singles Events Reveals Tips For Finding Your Soulmate, The Forward, November 30, 2017
The event has permeated American Jewish consciousness, even winding up in fiction,Francesca Segrè, Daughter of the Bride, 2006, pp. 243–244Shana Liebman, Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection, Grand Central Publishing, 2009, p. PT32Lance Long, Boca Chita, BENU Books, 2012, p. PT8 and has been cited as a desired destination in online gossip publications,Kenny Santucci: I Wanna Go To 'Matzo Ball' , TMZ.com, December 2014 and its Boston event has seen attendance by two professional football players, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.
Events
Logistics
Tickets and crowd Matzo Ball events are generally held at popular nightclubs in the cities in which the event is located.Carin Davis, Life, Love, Lox: Real-World Advice for the Modern Jewish Girl, Running Press, 2010, p. 149 The average age range of the crowd spans from the 20s through 40s, unless otherwise specified. A ticket purchased at the door can cost $30–40.
Attendance at the New York event can average from 1,100 to 1,700 people, with an entry line forming outside the venue 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. Crowd sizes at smaller venues, like in Boca Raton, can be 800 to 1,000 people, but with a crowd that arrives later, leading to a long line for entry at midnight.