Former "Saturday Night Live" star Andy Samberg is reportedly getting hitched to his longtime girlfriend Joanna Newsom. The 34-year-old comedian hosted the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, and brought along Newsom and the tasteful rock she sported. A source close to the couple told US Weekly that they will indeed be getting married. Andy met Joanna, a singer-songwriter, through mutual friends five years, and the lovebirds have been quietly dating ever since. J-Connection: Andy Samberg is as Jewish as he …More

The IDF is a great place for soldiers to meet new people, friends and potential life partners. The IDF has had a central role in the stories of hundreds of couples in Israel. Even the IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, met his wife for the first time during his service in the Paratroopers Brigade. In honor of Valentines’ Day, we bring you the story of Elad and Sigal. Elad and Sigal got to know each other during their officers’ course. “We didn’t really notice each other during the …More

They walked up a tree-lined path through stony hills to a square, white building--men in black hats, beards and frock coats; in T-shirts and jeans; in sweaters, slacks and velvet kippahs. They came by the hundreds--19-year-olds looking for a match, 40-year-olds losing hope that they would ever find one, boys of 15 praying for the unmarried. They had come for a special ceremony: They would blow 1,000 shofars, encircle the building seven times and recite penitential prayers led by a master of Jewish mysticism. …More

There are probably a lot of men going batty now that Jamie-Lynn Sigler announced her engagement to professional baseball player Cutter Dykstra. Sigler, a 2008 birthright Israel alumna best known for her portrayal of Meadow in “The Sopranos,” made it official on Twitter. “So this just happened,” Sigler, 31, tweeted earlier this week, with a picture of the engagement ring. “She said yes!!” the 23-year-old Dykstra tweeted back. So, the next question is: who is this Dykstra kid? …More

Jewish divorce requests rose nine percent in Israel last week, while Jewish divorce rates rose to five percent, an all-time high a new study says. Data recently released by the Rabbinical Courts Administration showed 10,694 Jewish Israeli couples divorced last year, with the majority taking place in Tel Aviv. " The data shows that last year thousands more cases were opened in rabbinical courts than in the previous year, indicating the public's satisfaction with the functioning of the courts," the Rabbinical …More

Steve Hoffman lost his son Harry in 2001 to Tay-Sachs disease, a genetic condition found predominately in the Ashkenazi community. The bereaved father now advocates for genetic screening for all Jewish couples considering marriage. “Please,” he said to a group of rabbis gathered in New York to learn about the need to advocate for screening, “when you sit down with couples, speak with them about genetic testing. I wish our rabbi did.” Though technological and research advances have …More

Lise Stern, JNS.org In America, those seeking to avoid large-scale weddings often elope to Las Vegas. In Israel, there are couples that elope to Cyprus—but for legal reasons, rather than for convenience or their personal taste. Civil marriages are currently not a viable option in the Jewish state, as all weddings must be overseen by a religious authority. “There is no formal civil marriage option in Israel,” writes Zvi Triger in Civil Marriages and Cohabitation of Jews Enter the Rabbinical …More

Lise Stern, JNS.org Picture a wedding in an ancient Roman amphitheater on the shores of the Mediterranean. Or in the mystical city of Safed, the sun setting over the Galilean Hills. Or in the multi-level garden by the Tower of David in Jerusalem. All these are possible options for destination weddings in Israel, a growing industry. “It is estimated that there are over a thousand weddings annually of people from abroad coming to get married in Israel,” says Lian Matias, who operates the website …More

An Israeli gay couple married 10 months ago in New York has asked an Israeli family court to validate a spousal support agreement. Elad Aflalo Farber and Roni Farber Aflalo on Sunday asked the Ramat Gan Family Court to recognize their agreement--the first time a legally married gay couple has done so, according to Haaretz. Previous recognitions of same-sex spousal support agreements involved common-law spouses. The couple registered their marriage with the Population, Immigration and Border Authority, as they …More

What? You weren’t invited to New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire’s wedding on 12/12/12? Fret not, pretty much nobody else was either. Stoudemire did indeed marry longtime girlfriend Alexis Welch on the roofdeck of their New York City apartment on Wednesday. The couple, which already has three children together, decided to go small and go home; the intimate ceremony was attended by a mere 12 guests, in part to mark the historic 12/12/12 date in style. “They decided to do this because of …More

Evan Rachel Wood and Jamie Bell have sparked wedding rumors after reportedly procuring a marriage license. After spotting the couple at the Los Angeles County Recorders office on Tuesday, E! News reported the two had obtained a license to wed. The couple has not commented on the report. Wood and Bell previously dated before splitting in 2006, and rekindling their relationship in the summer of 2011. Speculation swirled that they had been married in secret earlier this year when they were spotted with wedding …More

If Sarah Silverman ever writes a book on parenting, we’d like to suggest a title for it: “Have Dad, Will Attack.” Donald Silverman, Sarah’s father, came out with a blistering defense of his daughter after a Dallas-area orthodox rabbi wrote a scathing open letter, attacking Sarah’s lifestyle choices and demeaning her – as yet - childless existence. Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt, in what can only be described as history’s most ass-backwards attempt to entice someone into …More