A New York Jewish Wedding to Remember 5-25-2014

Annabelle and I just returned from New York City!  We did all the fun things you are supposed to do in the "Big Apple" including seeing a Broadway show (we saw Rogers' and Hammerstein's Cinderella which was fantastic!).  We crossed The Brooklyn Bridge on our scooters and ate New York lox and bagels.  We went to China Town, LIttle Italy, and Battery Park.  We went to Central Park and Times Square.  It even rode my scooter to Coney Island!

I smile with my study partner, Dena Leff,, whose daughter, Shira, got married on May 25, 2014 - Dena and I have studied together for eleven years now!

The reason for our NYC trip was centered around the wedding of the oldest daughter of my study partner from Partners In Torah which took place in Brooklyn on Sunday, May 25, 2014.  All the other activities were put around that day, and what a day to remember was that day!

We arrived at the wedding around 1:30 pm and the wedding took place at Ateres Chynka, 129 Elmwood Avenue in Brooklyn. Annabelle and I stayed with a family who lived nearby, so our hostess drove us to the wedding.

When we first entered the hall, we were greeted by a woman sitting in front who asked for money in Hebrew. It was good I didn't give her the envelope with our congratulation card and check that was meant for the bride and groom, since I thought at first she was a greeter directing guests into the wedding and collecting presents!

After we entered the hall, someone directed us downstairs to the wedding. The hall was inside a Jewish boys school. When we finally entered the wedding, there was an entrance for men and another entrance for women. We looked for our name on cards set up on the women's side. Annabelle could find hers, but I couldn't find mine, so we decided to wish the bride "Mazel Tov" and find, Dena, the mother of the bride, and also my study partner from Partners in Torah.

I realized it had been so long since I'd seen Dena in person (the last time I had seen her was during the summer of 2007 for my son Joel's "spur of the moment Bar Mitzvah"), so I asked one of the guests who the mother of the bride was. As soon as she pointed me to Dena, I approached her and was greeted with a warm hug! Then I was introduced to the bride, Dena's beautiful daughter, Shira, who radiated with a glow and happiness and love, as she met me and Annabelle. I met some of Dena's sisters and mother and began to get excited!

Next, Annabelle and I checked out the food. There were men and women eating from the buffet. I learned that some of the people at that part of the celebration were not invited to the wedding, but had come to wish either the bride or groom Mazel Tov. Some of the people eating from the buffet even seemed to appear as if the meal they ate at the buffet was their only meal of the day. There were appetizers including homemade New York gefilte fish (which I had to try and I ate two pieces since it was so good...didn't taste anything like the stuff I buy in a jar). There was fruit and veggies at that center table, but other tables were filled with hot main dishes which included pasta, chicken, and other meat dishes and cooked vegetables. There was a table with desserts and another table with drinks. People visited and ate at some tables and others stood.

Just before two o'clock, the crew at the wedding hall, began to tear down the food buffet, and guests were directed to either the women's or men's areas where the Chuppah was set up. Annabelle and I were fortunate to enter that area early, since the seats filled up quickly and many of the women who attended had to stand. More chairs were eventually brought in, but still, there were not enough chairs for everyone.

The wedding ceremony then began! The women sat on one side of the aisle and the men set on the other.

First the grandparents came down the aisle and waited around the Chuppah. Then, the groom was walked down the aisle with his mother and father on both sides. The groom's mother was dressed in a beautiful dress and wore a hat over her head. The father put a white robe on his son under the Chuppah.

Then we stood up and the bride, Shira, was led down the aisle by her parents. I began to cry as we all stood and watched Shira, who was glowing and smiling, come forward.

The two mothers and the bride then circled the groom (I think it was seven times). Shira's eyes seemed to be closed and seemed to look as if she was seeking Hashem and I could see the smile and excitement on Dena's face as she led her daughter around Matthew. Matthew smiled with excitement and anticipation.
Music was played and sung during that time and then there were Hebrew prayers, songs, and blessings. It didn't take long before Matthew broke the wedding glass with his foot and everyone shouted Mazel Tov! The bride an groom exited and the guests began to move.

I immediately joined other women around Dena to congratulate her and spoke a bit with Dena's sister, Leah, who told me that one of her sons had gone to Jewish camp in Colorado. Leah told me to sit anywhere and not worry about finding the card with my seat assignment.

In the background, the wedding hall employees began to change the room into a banquet hall. The Chuppah was taken down and so was the carpet that had just been the aisle. Dena and her sister told me to either sit at table 12 or 14 since my seat assignment card could not be found. Annabelle was assigned to table 10 with Dena's daughters, so no one was there yet, since photos of the family were next on the agenda.

My daughter, Annabelle, and I smile during the wedding celebration dinner!

Annabelle smiles with Dena's beautiful 15 year old daughter Faiga.

Dena's sixteen year old daughter, Pearl, smiles with her cousin

My daughter Annabelle smiles and is surrounded by Shira's sisters and cousins.  They made her feel so welcome!

I peeked at what was going on on the men's side!

The main table - Matthew's mother is on the end in the hat, Dena is holding her son in her lap, Shira and Matthew sit in the center...other honored family members are on the other side of Matthew...

The men's side...

At Table 12 I sat next to one of Dena's first cousins. Her name was Miriam and next to her was Jackie, who was married to Miriam's brother, Jeremy. Jackie explained that she and her husband were not "religious" but she'd married into Dena's huge family and that she and her husband attended Jewish orthodox weddings like this almost every two months since family members got married all the time!

Jackie has a really important job with the New York City public schools. I believe she told me she was the vice-president or director of the New York public school system. She trains and hires new school principals and oversees other things related to the New York schools. She lived in a huge apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with 600 units. Her husband, Jeremy, is Dena's first cousin. Jackie shared with me that she and her husband "are not particularly religious," but she married into Dena's very large family and they attend weddings of family members every couple of months. She told me that they'd taken a cab to the wedding hall in Brooklyn from Manhattan and that the traffic had been horrible. She'd missed the buffet and the earlier part of the wedding where the bride was wished be best by guests, and had arrived just in time for the canopy. Jackie explained what would happen during the reception and encouraged me to dance and take part in the festivities before the bride came on to the dance floor to celebrate.

There were mini loaves of Challah at each place setting. A very large meat appetizer came that I thought was the entire meal. Most people only at a little of that, but I didn't find that out until I had eaten most of that dish! There were kosher pickles and cole slaw and other salads on the table too. Soup came next. There was a choice between vegetable or mushroom soups. After the soup, it was time for Shira to appear and all the girls used their arms and a white prop to form a canopy for Shira to run under! The girls jumped up in down with excitement as Shira ran in. Then a circle was formed and the dancing began. The men must have been doing something similar on the men's side.

Shira and Matthew were lifted in the air and brought to the main center table. There were speeches and the eating and celebrating continued. The main course was brought in which was chicken and potatoes and some sort of dish that looked like it could have been stuffing or a dessert. Wow...was I getting full! When it was time to think about leaving, Annabelle and I went to the main table to say good-bye to Dena. I gave the card and present I'd bought for the young couple to Dena's sister, Leah. I wondered whey there was no central place for gifts, but also I noticed that there were two men inside the hall soliciting donations for the poor, so maybe leaving gifts in a hall like that was not a good idea.

The women dance!

More dancing!

Another wedding hall!

When the dancing began again, Dena danced with me and then with Annabelle. The women circled us!

Annabelle and I finally said our official good-byes and left. On our way out, we found my name with the assigned table card on the men's side! We took both cards home as a souvenir. We walked back to our hostess's home along McDonald Avenue. It turned out that the wedding hall was very close to where we were staying and we even passed another wedding hall on our way back. What a wonderful day! It truly was a Jewish wedding to remember and only later did we realize that we missed the dessert that included ice cream, chocolate cake, and an apple crisp dessert that was set up buffet style!