We were at a lovely little wedding last night. (The picture is a reworked one of last week's wedding.)
It was at a small hall in Jerusalem and Chareidi/Chassidish, not our usual fare. The men and women sat "very separately."
From what I could hear, never saw the "band," there were drums and a capella singing, or was it a recording? I have no idea. There's a Jerusalem custom not to have "music," ever since the destruction of the Holy Temple.
It ends up that we know "both sides." We were invited by the groom's father and discovered that the bride is the niece of a neighbor. It's an Ashkenaz (European) and Moroccan union. In our yishuv circles, it's very common; our own son-in-law is Tunisian. But I don't think it's all that common among the Chareidim.
While we were eating, I looked around and commented, that contrary to "our" weddings, there don't seem to be any friends of the bride. Apparently, they're not invited to the actual wedding ceremony and meal. Only after the main course, when the bride and groom reappear after being in the "yichud room," does the dancing begin and their friends arrive. There was a table set up with nosh--kugel, cakes and soft drinks, for the girls who are the bride's friends. They all looked so young, like high school students. I'm sure that they were still in their teens. Only one or two were married.
MAZAL TOV!
Yes, it was a lovely little wedding!
4 comments:
that's funny... i was also at a wedding last night! not quite as charedi (we could see the band and the mechitzah was trees) but it was lovely.
happy chanukah, shabbat shalom!
Mazal Tov
It seems like Thursdays have become the major wedding night here in Israel, probablly since lots of people don't work on Friday.
The singers were real. No one could have attempted that type of harmony and let it stay on a recording. The custom, among some circles (it's always "some") is that other than drums, no musical instruments in Jerusalem and since for some strange reason the Chatan aligns himself with the Nadvorna-Tzfat Chassidim, that's their custom.
Thanks for clarifying. I didn't want to cause scandals by visiting the other side of the wall.
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