Your Usual Unusual Event

May 28, 2008 - 1:40 PM by

I went to a typical Israeli wedding the other night. What does that mean in a country comprised of immigrants from over 100 countries? Is there such a thing as a typical Israeli wedding?

There are the denominators common to most weddings in the western world: a white gown for the bride, a gathering of family and friends, dinner and dancing afterwards. Then there are characteristics common to Jewish weddings: a rabbi, a chuppah, a ketubah, the breaking of a glass in memory of the Second Temple that was destroyed.

And then there are the things that typify your classic secular wedding in 21st century Israel: a fantasy countryside setting built on land where only recently chicken coops stood, nouvelle cuisine buffet ranging from Chinois to Juif, and an insane selection of music by the DJ to open the proceedings.

“Israelis are crazy. They are absolutely crazy,” stated my bemused significant other. At least that’s what I think he said, given the din that preceded the bride and groom’s march down the aisle – a sound bite from an old Muppets show.

We then tried to top one another with “whose been to the tackier event” stories – the bris I went to in Bat Yam where the dessert table was lowered down from the ceiling, the wedding we’d heard about where the bridesmaids and groomsmen were clad only in bathing suits, the fireworks displays that occur on a nightly basis over the wedding halls of Rishon Lezion, and of course, the famous bride and groom helicopter airlifts. Crazy.

And yet…

I was invited to this wedding, even though I’m barely related to the groom on my father’s side, because his family is small – most relatives had perished in the Holocaust. While standing and watching the ceremony, I ran into cousins from my mother’s side and it turned out they were related to the bride, as was the rabbi who performed the ceremony. Her family comes from Saloniki, a Greek community that was also decimated in WWII. His father was a general in the Israeli army. Her father ran a spice business. There were people there of all ages, first, second and third generation Israelis. In the midst of the dancing, a bouzouki player came out, line dancing began, and plates were smashed for good luck.

Typical? There is nothing typical about any wedding here.

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Comments

3 Comments on Your Usual Unusual Event

  1. Nicky on Wed, May 28th 2008 2:12 PM

    2. It’s the Bat Yam weddings I love best. It’s like opening night at the Oscars – except it’s always the mothers of the bride and groom squeezed into the shiny gold outfits.
    There’s always fireworks, and the music is so loud you can’t actually hear for several days afterwards.

  2. karin on Wed, May 28th 2008 8:00 PM

    3. I get invited to weddings where the bride and groom insist on acting out dance moves like Solid Gold dancers. And then there are the skits…

  3. Benji Lovitt on Thu, May 29th 2008 6:46 PM

    4. An idiot’s guide to Israeli weddings:
    http://www.whatwarzone.com/2008/03/idiots-guide-to-israeli-weddings.html

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