Shira and Steven's Wedding

Shira and Steven's wedding was the best ever. Having been to Catholic
weddings, midwestern weddings, elegant weddings in Brooklyn with lots of
British people, my own wedding, etc., I would have to say that this particluar
Jewish wedding in Pittsburgh was totally different, wonderful, and enjoyable in
every detail.

Please read the extended entry to fully understand my gushing appreciation...

Without going into a play-by-play, I would have to say that the central themes of the celebration were 1)union (Shira and Steven) and 2)dancing (everybody!-- and I mean great-grandma and EVERYBODY). In fact, I'm not sure that the whole thing wasn't just an excuse to dance and whoop it up for about 8 hours-- since that's pretty much what everyone did.

A brass band to follow them through every part of the ceremony? Oh yeah, they had it. A million relatives to offer benedictions? yes. Everyone looking gorgeous and oh so formal-- check. The biggest temple I have ever seen in my life? of course.

Aside from all the awesome everything, my absolute favorite part of the ceremony was when Shira's dad, Zarky, spoke. He and the other speakers said a lot of things that made me cry like a silly person, but in particular, I liked
what he said about making choices in life. I wish I could post his paternal
wisdom so everyone could see it, but I will just give you a saying he referred
to:

"The whole world is a narrow bridge... the main thing is not to be afraid."
Hasidic saying attributed to Rabbi Nachman of Braslav

Zarky said that a few missteps won't make you fall off that scary, skinny
bridge, and that it was really an overall pattern of good decisions that would
keep you going. There's a lot of room for love, partnership, and forgiveness in
that philosophy-- I really wish I could tell you everything that was said, because
it just gave Seth and I the googly-eyes over each other. Romance was in the
air! It was wonderful. Can I say that again? Wonderful. The whole thing was
total fun. Thanks for inviting us, Shira and Steven!

Posted by jvoris at July 7, 2005 12:42 AM