Matzo Ball

For the traditional Jewish food, see matzah ball.

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).[1][2][3]

The name of the event is frequently styled as MatzoBall[4][5][6] (with capitalization as Matzoball or matzoball[7]) or misspelled as Matzah Ball[4][8] or MatzahBall.[9][10]

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,[11][12] 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,[13] 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.[14] 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.

  1. ^ Jessica Gresko, Dec. 24 Becomes Party Night for Jewish Singles, Associated Press (Washington Post), December 24, 2006
  2. ^ Mike Cohen, Famous Matzo Ball parties to land here, Jewish Tribune (Canada), November 10, 2009 Archived November 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Largest Annual Jewish Singles Event Goes Virtual this Christmas Eve". Orange County Breeze. 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  4. ^ a b Joe 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, 2002
  5. ^ Party pics: 12th Annual MatzoBall party, MetroMix.com, 2008
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kirchick was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Mazel Events LLC (December 22, 2020). "Matzoball Online • The World's Largest Jewish Singles Event".
  8. ^ The Matzah Ball at KISS & FLY - Thursday, Dec 24th 2009, Rhythmism.com – Upcoming Events forum, 2009 Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Roy S. Gutterman, Hitting the Road to Check Out the Scene During Holiday Season, The (Philadelphia) Jewish Exponent, January 8, 2009
  10. ^ Society of Young Jewish Professionals, Press Release: Record 10,000 Jewish Singles to Attend Matzo Ball Parties on December 24, PRWebDirect.com, December 20, 2005 Archived February 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Goldstein, Meredith (December 16, 2020). "It'll still be a (matzo) ball: The Matzoball, a popular Jewish singles event, goes virtual this Christmas Eve". The Boston Globe.
  12. ^ Carmona, Sergio (December 16, 2020). "Virtual Jewish singles event includes South Florida cities". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
  13. ^ tribester. "The Tribal Ball". Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  14. ^ Rudnick, Andrew. "Matzoball The Nation's #1 Holiday Party". matzoball.org. Retrieved 2021-12-21.