How Gali Golan Navigates Dating as a Jewish Creator: "I Have Standards"

Dating in your twenties is hard enough. Dating in your twenties when you're a traditional Jewish woman from Israel with 1.1 million Instagram followers — and a comment section full of strangers who think they know you — is something else entirely.

Gali Golan, the 25-year-old Israeli-American content creator known online as gal gool, has spent the last several years building a massive following across social media with a mix of comedic sketches and lifestyle content. One viral crying clip set to Michael Bublé pulled in millions of views on TikTok, and she's since worked as a professional model alongside her content career.

But when it comes to her personal life, Golan has kept most of it offline — until now.

"I've had guys DM me paragraphs about how we're 'meant to be' when I've literally never seen their face before," the social media star revealed in a statement on Tuesday, April 21. "And then when I actually go on a date with someone in real life, they've already gone through three years of my Instagram and think they know my whole personality. Like sir, you know my feed. You don't know me."

Still, the dating thing is only part of it.

"I grew up in a traditional Jewish home in Haifa, and that shaped everything about how I see relationships," Golan said. "I take dating seriously. I'm not out here treating it like content, but when you have a million people watching, even going on a normal date feels like a public event."

Now based in Miami, Golan said the intersection of her faith and her dating life is something she thinks about constantly. "Being Jewish is everything to me," she explained. "It's my family, my values, how I was raised. It's not something I perform for the internet, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make dating more complicated. I have standards that come from my faith, and not everyone gets that."

That kind of disconnect isn’t unique to Golan.

Alix Earle, who has more than 8 million TikTok followers, recently said she “doesn’t want to go on dates anymore” after a bad first date where a guy couldn’t get past her online persona. Chappell Roan has also spoken openly about how dating after fame can feel like “a nightmare,” saying she struggles to trust people’s intentions. For Golan, the added layer is faith.

"I want someone who asks me real questions, not someone who already has answers about me from a Google search," Golan said. "Someone who's going to keep Shabbat with me and also not be weird about what I do for a living. That's it, that’s the bar.”