"Well, somebody has to arrange the matches. Young people can't decide these things themselves."

--From the hit Broadway show, "Fiddler on the Roof"

Dear Beliefnet Reader,

I'm not quite that pessimistic about the ability of "young people" to find mates. But I think we all could use some help. That's why Beliefnet has decided to launch a values-oriented, spiritually attuned online dating service called Soulmatch.

As you know, Beliefnet's mission is to help people meet their spiritual needs. It's hard to think of a more important need than the desire to find someone to love and who will love you. We wanted to offer a service that would help people match on a much deeper level. Not only a physical match or an age match-but a soulmatch.

We started by looking at the research on the characteristics of successful relationships. Most of the studies seem to share this conclusion: having compatible values is a critical factor. In some cases, those values are grounded in faith and in other cases they're not. What matters most is being on the same ethical wavelength. (More on what research shows).

So we devised a revealing (but fun) questionnaire that will help you display your most important character traits and enable you to find someone with whom you can connect on a deep level. A few sample questions:

"The last time I lied and was sure it was the right thing to do..."

"If you could retire one of the 'seven deadly sins' to make room for a new one, which would you lose and what would you add?"

"What do you consider the most spiritual experiences?"

"Imagine this: a tornado is minutes away from your home. You get your pets and loved ones to safety and have just enough time to run back and grab 3 things. Everything else will be destroyed. What would you save?"

For those people who want to go deeper into the importance of a particular faith in their lives, we have a detailed, faith-specific set of questions designed to help you find the best spiritual match.

We've also assembled some of the best relationship advisers to guide you through the dating process itself. The goal is to help you not only get a date but build a successful relationship. Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., author of the best-selling books "Getting the Love You Want" and "Keeping the Love You Find," will provide regular advice to Soulmatch users about how to prepare for and maintain exciting, loving, and successful relationships.

Hendrix, in a review of Soulmatch, wrote, "Soulmatch is unique. It provides in-depth, thought-provoking (and fun) questions to help you discover who you really are and the type of person you are attracted to. But it does more than help you develop a personality profile and find a match. It also helps you find someone with whom you share similar values, a compatible faith, political leanings, and your philosophy of life-all extremely valuable for a relationship to be successful."

Other extraordinary guides along your journey will include Beliefnet columnists Thomas Moore, author of "Care of the Soul"; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of "Kosher Sex"; and Renita Weems, author of "What Matters Most."

Please fill out a profile now and let us know what you think of Soulmatch. We hope Beliefnet's Soulmatch will help you or a friend become truly happy.

Best,

Steven Waldman
Editor-in-Chief, Beliefnet