“It will be heard in the cities of Judah and the
surroundings of Jerusalem, sounds of joy and the voice of happiness, the voice
of a groom and the voice of a bride!” Jeremiah 33 verses 10-11.
Those words are part of the seventh of the seven blessings
that constitute the kiddushim, the Jewish wedding ceremony. Kiddushin does not
really mean marriage; the root is both that of holy and sanctified or set
apart. In the Jewish wedding ceremony, a bride and groom are sanctified to one
another, brought together in an amazing union, to build a new, strong house full
of values and commitment. It is a wonderful experience and as many of you know,
this week we had the honor and privilege to celebrate the marriage of our son
Ariel to Gila Twersky.
When we left off last week, we were preparing for the family
to come together for Shabbat. We celebrated the special Shabbat Chattan (Groom’s
Shabbat) with a Friday night dinner that united the Mazers from all over Israel
at an apartment we rented in Jerusalem, with my Mom and our neighbor Ryan Fiter
in attendance. Shabbat Morning we went to where Ariel had studied in Jerusalem,
Yeshivat Hakotel in the Old City, where he was called to the Torah and read the
Haftarah (reading from the Prophets after the main Torah reading). Many of his
friends were in attendance, and the whole Yeshiva came alive as we danced with
the Chattan in celebration of the upcoming marriage. We had a whole group of
friends at Elan and Nomi’s home for lunch, as well as our cousins Linda and
Allan Zysblatt. We had great food, great discussion, lots of thought provoking
works of Torah in an amazing setting. The stage was being set for Monday’s big
event.
Sunday was a day of preparations; a bit of running around
and making sure all was set. We hung out in the old city with Shlomo and
Shoshana, and Ariel went to his Yeshiva and spent the evening with friends (not
to mention Romanian Salami and some good Scotch). I don’t think he overdid
things though, because he was up at 5:45 to go to the earliest morning prayers
possible to start his day!
Monday we closed up the Jerusalem apartment and drove up to
the Moshav where the wedding would be, called Shoresh. Shoresh is a small community
on a hilltop 18 km outside of Jerusalem with spectacular views and a wedding
hall on the top of the hill. It’s very popular…2 friends of Ariel got married
there the week before! We checked into the adjoining hotel to get dressed and get
ready for pictures and the celebration. The bride and groom customarily do not
see each other for 7 days before the ceremony, so it was fun to see Ariel
ducking behind things so they would not see each other while they were taking
pictures in the same area!
The celebration itself was amazing (I sent out a link
earlier with some of the festivities, for whoever wished to get a taste!)
Weddings in Israel are much less formal than in North America. The signing and
music are infectious, and the various parts of the ceremony (and there are
several) are punctuated with spontaneous singing, dancing and clapping. The
groom (and in our case the bride) don’t walk down the aisle formally; they are surrounded
by the wedding guests and danced to the Chuppa (wedding canopy). The band and
the singing only paused for the ceremonial blessings and the formal reading of
the marriage contract. The atmosphere is completely different from the more
solemn style of Britain and North America. One of our guests said that she
wants all of her kids to get married in that style! Not only is it an amazing,
emotional experience to marry off a child but the happiness in the hall makes the
event tremendously special. 
Just a few words on our new daughter in law, Gila. She’s the
daughter of Rabbi Yitzhak and Geulah Twersky. The Twersky’s are from New York
and moved to Israel 6 years ago. Rabbi Twersky is an educator and Geula also is
in education but is an amazing artist (check out www.geulaart.com). The wedding invitation
was based on one of her paintings. Gila is one of 10 children! She is a very poised,
articulate and intelligent young woman who is studying in a girls Seminary in
the mornings and teaching Hebrew in the afternoons. She is applying to the same
university that Ariel is studying in for next year and they will be living in
Givat Shmuel, the suburb of Tel Aviv where Bar Ilan University is located. We
spent time with her when she visited Montreal during the Jewish holidays this
fall and she is a very welcome addition to the family!
The rest of this week was spent in Jerusalem. Bruce attended
the 2nd international Allergy and Immunology Meeting at the David
Citadel and Barbara ran around a lot doing things for the newlyweds and seeing
friends and family (including Bilha Fruchter). Last night we had a group of
Ariel’s friends (including Noam Levkovich and Dan Illouz) for a celebratory
dinner, one of seven that the bride and groom traditionally have in the week after
the wedding. We were outside, at a place called Anna Ticho House, in the
gardens in the center of Jerusalem. I could not think of a more ideal place!
This Shabbat we are getting together with Gila’s family at their
home in Neve Daniel. The Mazer clan and Twersky clan, and a few of their friends
are getting together to continue the celebrations! More on that next week.
We wish a Happy Birthday to Talia Bella Mazer, who is turning
1!
We wish wish a refua shlema (speedy recovery ) to Sylvia
We wish everyone a Shabbat of joy and happiness with family
and friends!
Barbara and Bruce
