A Jewish Wedding

Did you know that the breaking of the glass symbolizes grief over the destruction of the Second Temple? Neither did I.

When they told me I would be attending a wedding in Jerusalem, I had some typical preconceptions: lots of black hats and peyeses (ed. payot? payesim?), modest dress, lots of Hebrew, and typical Jewish seriousness. So I was pleasantly surprised that the actual service was none of those things. The bride, a Harvard Divinity School grad student, recruited her girlfriend to perform the ceremony. Both the bride and groom were vegans, so the service was entirely meat-free (and delicious!). Best of all, instead of breaking the glass at the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom crumbled a sprig of rosemary at the beginning, as a less-forlorn and more forward-looking gesture of remembrance.

It was a wonderful, inspiring service, and I was very grateful to have been invited.