Kind of Like Sinai -- We Were There!

At 5:30 this morning family members up and down the East Coast were awake and trying to find the Facebook feed, and people in Denver were up at 3:30, and people in San Francisco were up at 2:30. All so that we could be there for Benjamin's wedding.  As expected, it took them a while to get the livestream going, and there were glitches and freezes and moments when it went into a loop. But in the end, we got to see the whole thing and it was awesome.

A beautiful day for all ages.

What we saw was a lot of people at a party, some with masks, some without, greeting each other, milling about. The venue was a lovely tropical space with big umbrellas for shade and fans to combat the heat wave.  There were people in T-shirts, and people in dresses. Benjamin and Yael were clearly the groom and bride, with clothing that they had designed and created themselves, with professional help.  They both looked happy and comfortable and dressed up.  

The camera was a phone and the phone was not really monitored by one dedicated person, or maybe that person had many jobs. Sometimes we couldn't see very well, sometimes the phone rang and the picture got all wavy and blurry and sometimes we could just see the palm of a hand. But it was completely satisfying to be included in that way -- the people who were there probably couldn't see all that well either. There were maybe 50 people there, and everyone looked happy.

Finally there was some activity around building the chuppah. And then it seemed like all of a sudden Benjamin was being walked down the aisle by two friends. And then Yael appeared with her parents. She looked radiant, beautiful, completely the bride. 

 

Yael, with her parents Gadi and Hedy.

Benjamin, with his parents, in spirit.

The whole thing was in Hebrew, with small amounts of English sprinkled in. In the comments section on Facebook, the best man was heroically translating for us -- summarizing the speeches.  There was an officiant with a beautiful singing voice and it was a real Jewish wedding with lots of American-type thinking. They wrote lots of the ceremony, including their ketubah and some wonderful vows that revealed a lot about each of them. Those vows made them both so appealing (they are appealing anyway) because they were honest and warm and sweet. My favorite line was from Yael, "I am spoiled." She says she is spoiled by the way Benjamin can bring her ideas into being. I have the same experience myself with his father.

Benjamin and Yael under the chuppah.

It didn't seem like it was going to work, my role of reading one of the wedding blessings. The Zoom feed had run out and our family bailed and went back to our own Zoom connection (we shared commentary throughout the event, especially while we were waiting for everything to start).  But when it was my turn, Hedy called me from her post in the chuppah and I answered from where we were sitting on our bed in Northern Virginia. That was surreal.  It was my turn to offer a blessing about creation, which I had written and Rebecca had suggested I change one thing (don't say "making their dreams come true" -- too trite).  They held the microphone up the phone and my voice could be heard loud and clear in Israel. 

Because this is my report, I will share my blessing here since I don't really know what everyone else said in Hebrew:

We share the blessing of living in a world created with vast possibilities and wild beauty -- the sun and the soil that provides food and energy, air that powers our bodies, water that sustains all life. May Benjamin and Yael keep their feelings of amazement and awe, wherever they make their home. And may they continue to dance and sing and scheme and build and dream, creating the world anew together.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melekh ha-olam shehakol bara lichvodo.

Well, I do know what Hedy said because she kindly said hers in English too. Her blessing was about Zion and she said that she and Benjamin had both made aliyah, a physical return to Zion. But Zion is also a spiritual thing, and her hope was that Yael and Benjamin would stay connected to their Judaism in whatever way worked for them.  

That was a good one too.

Part of what was so fun was just being in Israel for a bit.  It is a country of pragmatic, unpretentious, purposeful, authentic, direct and friendly people. It is easy to see why Benjamin likes living there. I am so glad that he found a place for himself in that new country, and he found Yael and her family, and he clearly has friends he loves. There is nothing more satisfying to a parent than having a happy child -- and one who is self-sufficient and adaptable and so on.

They crushed the glass together -- Yael's high heeled shoe on top of Benjamin's shoe and there was a roar of joy and that was that. The video ended.

It was about 7:30 in the morning and we had already finished attending a wedding.

Some of what we missed.

I got out of my dress and earrings, put on my work clothes and raced down the hill.  I was due in Loudoun at 9:00.  By 8:30 I was picking flowers, dripping sweat, with three others.  At the morning check-in I gave a brief report about the wedding while we cleaned onions together.  The go-round was inspired by our experience:  tell about some form of technology that you have liked.  Solar power (and refrigerators powered by solar), toaster, FaceTime, power tools, Skype (creating more connection with parents far away), navigation system in your pocket, and more.

And the rest of Friday unfolded as it has for the last few months.  Picking, washing, loading, driving back for potluck, bunching flowers, watching over the flow of ten people working together to get ready for markets. I walked up the steps to our house at 5:00 and then hurried off to acupuncture.

It was a long, long day. And a very happy one. All day Hedy sent me photos of the party -- the cake, dancing, singing, casual shots of people we don't know.  We were sad that we couldn't be there, but they did a really good job of including us from halfway around the world. I bet over time my memory will put me right there at that wedding, including the heat and humidity.