Andrew Guckes
Lisa Green is a graduate student seeking a degree in marriage and family therapy and a matchmaker with the Jewish professional organization Tribe 12, but even something as benign as connecting Jewish singles can be scrutinized after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Thankfully, Green’s Jewish lens was largely shaped by the interfaith work she did in college, which showed her the potential for common ground.
“We had an interfaith vigil right after Oct. 7, where we had people from Hillel, various Christian clubs and the Muslim Student Association do readings for all the victims,” Green said. “That was a big deal and I don’t think it could have happened at many schools [or many places]. It was just a radical act of taking care of each other.”
Green applies that empathy, ability to listen and warmth to her position at Tribe 12, where she quite literally plays matchmaker. Her job is to field applications from dozens of professionals in the area (and some farther out) who are looking for love in the Jewish community. She said she fell rapidly into the role: One day, she was thinking she might be good at it, and then, the opportunity came out of nowhere when her boyfriend’s best friend discovered something.
“We found out we’re second cousins,” she said of the friend.
All of a sudden, Green felt the push to help her good friend and apparent kin find a partner of his own.
“I started going on Facebook groups, even one specifically for this, where I introduced him and said how he’s really cute and he’s the greatest and I got like 35 responses back. I had so much fun going back and forth and thought [I really like this],” she said.
A week later, she met Danielle Selber, an author and matchmaker at Tribe 12 who created the dating program.
“I love her so much and she mentioned being a matchmaker and I said how it sounds like the coolest thing ever,” she said. “She wanted to talk more, and we hit it off.”
Green comes in with an accomplished resume of Jewish professional work. In her role as president of the Hillel at Lafayette College, she helped produce events. Not all were as serious as the interfaith prayer vigil. For example, she started a “Fiddler on the Roof”-themed seder. It was such a hit that she plans to bring it with her to Philadelphia with Tribe 12.
Although she has only been in the role for less than a year, Green is sure that it’s right. She said that working in this role has helped prepare her for her eventual life as a therapist because she has to understand someone deeply to advance their interests.
“When I do an intake call, I adore it. Every time I do it, I get to fully explore someone’s life and story, and I hope they come away feeling really seen and heard,” she said. “[The idea] with the matchmaking initiative is to really make dating, which is a really scary process, just feel less lonely and to let people know you’re there for them and that you want to help them. I think it’s really a beautiful thing.”
Green added that she feels that same sense of appreciation from the people she helps, especially if the match ends in a relationship.
“I have adored everyone I have met. I just made some matches this morning and got a really sweet message. I just feel so cared about and so supported,” she said.
The team of matchmakers also works well in tandem, helping each other to pick up the slack. After all, there is a seemingly limitless amount of young Jewish professionals who are seeking a special someone.
Ultimately, Green, a Har Zion member and Bryn Mawr resident, tries to relate her time spent on the Lafayette campus to what she does with Tribe 12. She always wants to listen before she has an opinion and form that opinion before she talks, whether the subject is discrimination or dating.
“We had a discussion about Islamophobia and antisemitism at Lafayette with our Muslim Student Association and it was really powerful. It was in 2022, so it was before a lot happened, but we shared grievances and supported each other,” Green said.
She said that regardless of what direction things go, she will remember that conversation.
“It was an opportunity to come together,” she said.