A Jewish Wedding in times of tragedy is a mitzvah

#Jewish #weddings go forward even during times of tragedy. As the #Talmud instructs in the section on marriage: “If a funeral procession and a wedding procession meet at an intersection, the wedding procession goes first.”

 בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא שָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה חָתָן וְכַלָּה. גִּילָה רִנָּה דִּיצָה וְחֶדְוָה אַהֲבָה וְאַחֲוָה וְשָׁלוֹם וְרֵעוּת. מְהֵרָה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ יִשָּׁמַע בְּעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְחֻצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָםִ, קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן וְקוֹל שִׂמְחָה קוֹל חָתָן וְקוֹל כַּלָּה קוֹל מִצְהֲלוֹת חֲתָנִים מֵחֻפָּתָם וּנְעָרִים 

מִמִּשְׁתֵּה נְגִינָתָם. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ חָתָן עִם הַכַּלָּה׃

Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, asher bara sason v’simcha chatan v’chala. Gila, rina, ditzah v’chedva, ahava v’achava v’shalom v’rei’ut. M’heira Adonai Eloheinu yishama b’arei yehuda u’vchutzot yerushalayim, kol sason v’kol simcha kol chatan v’kol kala, kol mitzhalot chatanim meichupatam u’n’arim mimishtei n’ginatam. Baruch ata Adonai m’sameiach chatan im ha’kala.

Blessed are you, Adonai, our God, ruler of the universe, who created joy and gladness, loving couples, mirth, glad song, pleasure, delight, love, loving communities, peace, and companionship. 

Adonai, our God, let there soon be heard in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the loving couple, the sound of the their jubilance from their canopies and of the youths from their song-filled feasts. Blessed are you who causes the couple to rejoice, one with the other.

The groom stomped a glass to remind us of the tragedies that have befallen Jerusalem and the Jewish people — as if we needed reminding on this night!

And then we danced 

Every part of this wedding was made with love and hope. Every stranger instantly became family.