If you’ve ever seen Netflix’s popular “Jewish Matchmaking,” you know that one of the new reality show’s stars — Noah Dreyfuss — grew up in Baltimore’s Orthodox community.
A financial advisor, Dreyfuss currently resides in Denver, where he enjoys winter sports and mountaineering. He is a divorced dad whose 13-year-old son lives in Israel.
Jmore recently caught up with Dreyfuss, 36, to learn about his Jewish upbringing in Charm City, his experiences on the TV show and his current relationship status. (Hint: he’s still single!)
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
Jmore: What was it like for you growing up in Jewish Baltimore?
Dreyfuss: I grew up in the Orthodox community in the Park Heights area. My parents moved there from Silver Spring when I was around 7 because I was taking the bus from Silver Spring to Talmudic Academy, and it was a little far to go every day.
Starting in middle school, I went to Yeshivat Rambam. My father went to Agudath Israel [of Baltimore] on Park Heights Avenue. When I was a teenager, I ended up going sometimes to Rabbi [Menachem] Goldberger’s shul [Congregation Tiferes Yisroel-Beis Dovid] and sometimes to Ohel Yaakov Congregation, [the late] Rabbi [Binyamin] Dinowitz’s former shul.
What did you do after high school?
I went to Israel for yeshiva in January of 2006 and came back in March of 2012. I lived in Baltimore for about three years and worked for Merrill Lynch.
In 2016, they gave me an offer to move out to Colorado and start one of their new branches, so that’s when I moved to Denver until 2019. After that, I came back to Washington, D.C., and worked for Citibank for just under a year, and that’s when the pandemic hit.
I was skiing out in Jackson Hole [Wyoming] when everything shut down in D.C. So my boss gave me a call and said, ‘The offices are shutting down in D.C.’ I have a number of friends in Jackson Hole, and I was able to secure housing, thankfully, and ended up staying. It was only a plan to stay for a couple of months.
Eventually, I got the call that the offices were reopening, and I said, ‘Hey, I kind of like this remote deal.’ So I started my own financial firm at that point in time. It’s called Dreyfuss Capital Management. Now, I live in Denver.
On the show, you indicated you’re no longer Orthodox.
I prefer not to label myself specifically non-Orthodox or Orthodox. I keep some things. I don’t keep others. I call it, ‘Shopping Cart Judaism.’
How did you come to be on ‘Jewish Matchmaking’?
When I was up in Jackson Hole, one of the members of the local Orthodox community received a casting call email asking if they knew anybody for the show. Being the only affiliated, single Jewish male in the community, they said, ‘I know a guy you should call.’ So I did some of the interview calls and felt comfortable with the show.
I’m normally a pretty private person, so this is not something I would seek out on my own. But the opportunity came up and I decided to participate.
What was the experience like?
It’s interesting because on one hand, you’re kind of nervous about putting yourself out there and being exposed to the public. I was keenly aware that although we had all this filming time, a lot of it was going to get edited out. So I was just trying to be as careful as possible. The last thing I would want to do is talk about my former relationships and say something bad about another person. So I was just being careful about that while also trying to represent myself in a good way.
You didn’t find a partner through the show. Still looking?
I’m talking to a few people in the aftermath of the show and I’m hopeful for what comes out of my exposure. I did do this to meet someone because I was not having luck in the traditional methods. I didn’t do it to gain a social media following or anything.
Are you getting a lot of attention on social media since appearing on the show?
It’s just kind of the nature of being on a reality show. Sometimes people are going to speculate or think they know you, and they don’t actually know you. And they’re using a username on some sort of social media site, and you don’t know who that person is or what their story is.
But I appreciate wholeheartedly everyone that’s reached out in a sincere manner, and most of the feedback I’ve gotten is really positive. So nothing to complain about in that regard.
Have you heard from any moms looking for husbands for their daughters?
Yes, no shortage of mothers reaching out on Instagram. It’s kind of funny because I thought Instagram started with my generation, but everybody seems to be on Instagram these days. [Anyone reading this interview] you can send them to my Instagram page.
What are you looking for in a partner?
Someone who is really trying to connect with me as a person, as opposed to all the things that I bring to the table. I like to form relationships, whether it’s friendships, whether it’s romantically, with people who are open to that relationship unconditionally. Now obviously, there are caveats to that. Like you have to be good in the relationship together, you have to respect each other and admire each other and be cognizant of the other person’s feelings and thoughts. But at the same time, I prefer to come to relationships without any preconditions or a set of criteria that I’ve met.
Should we expect to see you on season 2?
I have no idea. I’ve not heard from anyone that there is a next season yet. I assume there will be, just based on how popular the show is, but they started filming with me in March of 2022, which is more than a year ago now. So if there is a second season, I doubt anything will be coming out tomorrow.
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