“You’re burning up my monitor – are you always this hot?”

“I’ve got the bagels, the paper and the Sunday afternoon. All that’s missing is you.”

Both of these are “flirt” lines from JDate, an international Jewish dating website.

Despite the stigmas associated with dating websites, many Jewish students are joining JDate in their quest for that special someone or as a break from the campus hook-up culture.

“In a way, this kind of process can be a little more pristine than a typical college scene where things are happening that are not quite as savory,” said Rabbi Ari Koretzky, who said he sees the site as a modern form of the matchmaking done in traditional Judaism – almost. Clearly, there’s nothing in the Talmud about Internet dating, he joked.

There are an estimated 6,000 Jews on the campus, about one-fifth of the student body, yet despite the campus’ thriving Jewish community, many students turn to the site for help finding love.

“It’s hard to find someone in college,” explained senior hearing and speech sciences major Michele Dobiecki, who made a profile on the site about two years ago to appease her parents, who want her to date Jewish men, although she never does.

“They want me to find a nice Jewish boy to marry,” she said.

Senior education and Jewish studies major Joe Roberts joined the site after transferring to the university from Tennessee.

“I got here as a transfer sophomore year and didn’t know anyone and didn’t have connections,” he said. “I figured it was an easy place to start.”

Roberts said many of his friends initially mocked him for joining the site.

“Most people that look down on it think it’s because you’ve become desperate or you’re just weird and nerdy, using computers to find people,” he said. But now, he said, many of those who mocked him have joined the site, too.

“I think that it was taboo and now it’s acceptable,” Dobiecki said.

Through the site, JDate members can send flirt lines and e-mail and instant message people. After communicating through one of these forms, people usually meet for a date.

Roberts has met two girlfriends through the site and casually dated a few other women.

“The first time I went on it, I met somebody within the first week,” he said. They dated for about six months.

Advantages of the site are that it allows users to meet people one-on-one, rather than under the pressure of showing off for a group and it allows users to learn about each other before meeting in person, Roberts said.

The site describes its function as a mission to “strengthen the Jewish community and ensure that Jewish traditions are sustained for generations to come.”

But Chabad Jewish Student Center director Rabbi Eli Backman said there are some downsides to JDate, as compared with traditional Jewish matchmaking. He worries because anyone can put whatever they want on a JDate profile and because there is no input from someone older and wiser who can provide insight into relationships.

“In the past, there was always advisory input from someone else,” he said.

Reactions to the site by students’ parents have been mixed. Roberts said his parents were initially hesitant about him using JDate.

“They were a little uneasy about the fact that I was dating girls online,” he said.

But Dobiecki said her parents were enthusiastic about the site, and have even been to weddings where the couple met on JDate.

For his part, Koretzky is happy to see more Jewish people getting together through JDate.

“As much as it contributes to people being able to meet Jews more easily – people they can connect and relate to – is great,” he said.

Contact reporter Rachel Azaroff at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.