If you or someone you know is looking to meet a nice, eligible Jewish guy, San Francisco’s Dana Hall and Elizabeth Shapiro might know a few. A baker’s dozen, to be exact: One for each month of the year, with an extra for good measure.
The pair’s “Mensch of the Month” wall calendar for 2012 featuring local, single Jewish men who are involved in the community philanthropically (or otherwise engaged in mensch-like behavior), will make its debut at a launch party Tuesday, Dec. 13 at Shotwell’s in San Francisco. The calendar is already available for purchase online.
Check out the guys who are
pictured on each of the
12 months. Click on each one!
All proceeds, after Hall and Shapiro reimburse themselves for printing costs, will go to SMART, a San Francisco nonprofit that supports education and mentoring for disadvantaged youth.
The project — which has garnered much more buzz than its creators were anticipating — was born of a lighthearted discussion between pals. Hall and Shapiro, both 26, are friends and co-workers at the San Francisco Food Bank.
“I especially like to date Jewish boys,” says Hall with a laugh. “So we were joking around about having a calendar with just the kind of boys that we like.” The duo looked on the Internet and discovered that a calendar full of Jewish bachelors already existed, but it wasn’t quite right.
“We wanted one of guys who were in the Bay Area, and single,” Hall says. “Guys where you know that they’re actually here, and not just actors living in L.A. or something.”
Hall set up a simple blog, Twitter account and Facebook page just after midnight on Oct. 13, asking for applications from single Jewish men living in the Bay Area. Qualifying as a mensch — defined on the blog as “a person of integrity and honor” — required that a man’s application include what he did for a living, a cause he supported, volunteered with or donated to, and what made him a mensch.
Applicants had to agree to be photographed and included in the calendar without pay, if chosen. They were also asked to include a picture or link to a Facebook profile, a description of their favorite Jewish food, and their top Jewish celebrity crush “other than Natalie Portman.” (“We got a resounding reply of Mila Kunis,” says Hall, though there was one mention of Sen. Dianne Feinstein.)
By the afternoon of Oct. 14 — as friends stumbled upon the page and passed it on to their single, Jewish friends — applications were pouring in.
The 13 winners (Hall and Shapiro decided to use a “bonus mensch” for the calendar’s back) range in age from their early 20s to mid-50s, and include grad students, Wise Sons Deli owners, nonprofit organizers, and a rabbi, Paul Shleffar.
Jonathan Sorgman, the calendar’s cover mensch, is a 25-year-old Santa Barbara native who recently moved to the Bay Area to study psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He coaches soccer, volunteers in a mentoring program, and plans to become a therapist or possibly a school counselor, he says.
Sorgman also recently spent 10 months in South America, relearning Spanish so that he can speak with family members of Mexican descent. While there, he worked on an organic farm in Argentina and helped rebuild houses in Peru.
A friend suggested he apply.
“I didn’t think too hard about it, and I honestly wasn’t expecting to be chosen in the first place, let alone be on the cover,” he says. “But it’s been exciting. Exciting and a little embarrassing. My parents are pretty proud.”
According to Hall and Shapiro, who hail from Philadelphia and Los Angeles, respectively, the project has helped them appreciate the spirit of the Bay Area’s Jewish community.
“We got so many amazing applications from people with these wonderful philanthropic hobbies and jobs, all these go-getters, entrepreneurs and activists,” says Hall. “They really upped the bar for what we consider a mensch.”
And, of course, it’s been a great way to meet new people. “A lot of the mensches will be at the launch party,” Hall promises, and they can probably be convinced to sign a few calendars. Chanukah shopping, anyone?
Mensch of the Month calendar launch party, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Shotwell’s bar, 3349 20th St., S.F. http://menschofthemonth.wordpress.com. Calendars available online. $20.12 each.