Shoshi Glazer works with Jewish singles through her work with A Single Impact, which she started in order to help Jewish singles in the Baltimore community find comfort in different spaces.
Now, the organization works with synagogues and community spaces around the area to ensure that single people feel comfortable wherever they go.
As a child, Glazer moved around a lot because her father was a rabbi. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in criminal justice and political science, she graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a master’s in criminal justice.
Now, she lives in Pikesville and belongs to Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Synagogue and Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion. In addition to her work with A Single Impact, Glazer is a litigation paralegal at Baltimore County Public Schools, where she is in charge of all claims.
What is A Single Impact?
We provide support, resources and advocacy for Jewish singles. Prior to COVID-19, we ran several dating events that were successful. Once COVID-19 started, we paused and asked ourselves what singles need.
Do they need dating events? Do they need support? Do they need Shabbos meal invitations? Do they need shuls that have programming that is appropriate for them? We started very, very small. We’ve grown significantly since then, and it has been a wild experience so far.
How did you initially get involved with helping single people in general?
A few women in the community wanted to run a singles event, and asked me and several single friends to assist. They specifically wanted input from singles to make the event a success, and we were happy to assist.
What is your favorite part about that job?
I’m a volunteer director. I make no money from this, but I like that we have many different initiatives, and all of our participants pick and choose what they want. Sometimes, it’s looking for a seat at shul for the holidays because they don’t have enough money to pay for tickets, or they come to our clothing sale, which is happening in September.
It’s nice to have a space that you can buy something new for a price that you can afford to bring joy for your upcoming holiday. I like talking with my singles and finding out how we can help them and how we can support them.
What’s it like for you being part of the group but also running the group?
Generally, I am fairly shy. I am an introvert, but because I’m in charge, it makes it easier to go up to somebody new and say hi. So, I think that is empowering.
What’s special about doing this for the Jewish community?
There are no other organizations that we have found that do this type of work within the religious community. There are many organizations that work with singles, but none of them focus on single life while people are single. We have singles who are dating, and we have singles who are not dating.
We try to fill in the gaps. I don’t know that this is an issue in the rest of the world, but I do know that there have been many studies finding that loneliness is on the uptick. It’s hard to go through life without people. We help people find people.
What’s your most popular event?
The clothing sale. We run a clothing sale twice a year for women. Clothes are donated by individuals and by stores. Either they’re brand-new with tags or they are very gently used.
We go through things and make sure that everything being donated is something that is appropriate to be worn again. We have people who find all their clothes at our sales, and they’ve told us that if we didn’t have a sale, they wouldn’t know what to do because that’s where all of their wardrobe comes from.
I received a call from one of our participants who got engaged, which was very exciting. They said that they never came to anything, but just knowing that the organization existed was comforting to have around. I think people are looking for connection, and they don’t always find it in the typical places where everyone else finds it.
Is there a typical demographic that the organization goes for?
Our age range is 21 to 80. We are working on having events for smaller demographics so that the events are targeted, but most of our events are for everyone.
What do you see for the future of this organization?
Our goal is to grow. We hope to have branches in other cities across the country. There are other cities where there’s a large population of singles facing similar things. It’s not just a Baltimore phenomenon. It’s not just a Maryland phenomenon. It happens in lots of places.
So, we are working on templates and guidelines so that other cities can have similar initiatives. It’s part of what I’m working on with the OU. They’ve been very helpful in that.
What is your relationship with the Orthodox Union?
A Single Impact is part of the OU Impact Accelerator this year. We are one of the participating members in the cohort that’s happening right now, and we are working with them to help us grow.
The OU runs a cohort of nonprofit organizations that they work with to provide training and support. This is their sixth cohort, and my organization is one of the organizations within the cohort this round.
Shira Kramer is a freelance writer.
