Attended my first conservative leaning Jewish wedding.
The bride is my wife's co-worker at Mt. Sinai Hospital. A Russian Jew. Khava & Michael.
I get to wear a kippah/yamulke and keep it! Something I've always been curious about. I've also wondered how one keeps that on the head especially when it's so small and for some with very little hair. I haven't solved the mystery with baldness, but it took a while for me to learn to use the pin that comes with it, so that it locked onto my head pretty firmly. The place is Kol Yaakov Hall in Brooklyn. It would appears to be a special place made for Jewish weddings and similar events.
We put $200 in the gift box. No one attends to the box. I wonder if this confidence in security is a Jewish trait. After all, the Jews are all bar mitzvah!
We get to eat before the ceremony. Drink from the bar.
The men and women are seated separately during the ceremony. Some women did not seem to like this "old fashion" seating arrangement. I love it on the other hand. Tradition! The rabbi that ministered the wedding sang from time to time old Jewish songs. And some Russian men in the back just kept saying Amen Amen.
At Grace OPC service earlier, Chris asked me to witness to them. The best I could do is to say that "Christianity is Jewish" during the reception snack. I didn't get an opportunity where I would ask "Who's the most popular Jew in human history?"
We didn't stay for the after service banquet/dinner. I was curious, but we were kind of tired. We arrived on time by 4:30pm and left at around 7pm, right after the ceremony.
Something worth noting:
- I was first greeted by Michael, the groom, who introduced himself and showed me how to wear the yamulke. Nice fella.
- They played Canon in D during the progression, but for the bridal entrace, it's a popular romantic music that's quite familiar to me but I don't know the name (it goes...mi mi mi, re. mi fa' mi mi mi...) instead of Mendelssohn's march. And of course, Wagner's not used at all.
- The bride and her family marched around the groom under the huppah 7 times.
- Breaking of the glass signify the exile and the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. It would appear that they do not recognize the nation of Israel as the dispensationalists would.
- The rabbi mentioned that the couple were two halves of one that found each other, attributing it to Kabbalah. Sounds more like Plato's soulmate theory and I am not sure if Plato stole this idea from the Jews. You can stretch it to Adam's rib, but saying two halves is closer to the Greek mythos than to scripture.
I do wish I could stay to check out the banquet, but Nadia and I was rather tired and I ate enough during the pre-ceremonial reception, good food (sushi - which I didn't try due to long line, some grilled chicken, couscous, steak, etc.). Something I have not seen in any other weddings I've been. I like this one, feed the guests first. Very considerate!