A few blogs (The Muqata and DovBear) have posts on the following wedding invitation which lists the location of the wedding as ירושלם תובב”א פלשתינא (Jerusalem, May it be built speedily, Palestine)
Needless to say, there has not been a “Jerusalem, Palestine” since the end of the British Mandate.
In addition to the location, there are a few strange things about this wedding invitation:
- The time is 7:00 on a Friday afternoon with the time zone listed as “7.00 לשא”י” or “2:00 אירופית”
I have no idea what time that is supposed to mean, לשא”י probably stands for “לשעון ארץ ישראל” (Eretz Yisrael time), as opposed to “Zionist Daylight Saving time” It is quite common for people in Mea Sharim to not change their clocks for Daylight Saving time, so it most likely means 6:00 PM Israel time (IDT), but I have no idea what “2.00 European Time” would correspond to; 6 PM IDT is 3 PM GMT, but as far as I can tell, there is no place in Europe that would be 2 PM when it is 6 PM here in Israel.
- Shabbat comes in this week in Jerusalem at 6:27, so if they do mean 6:00 PM Israel time, that is less than half an hour before Shabbat. If the wedding was 7:00 Israel time, that is a few minutes after Shkiya when it would be forbidden to get married under normal circumstances (I know that there is a Rama where he discusses a wedding that he performed after Shkiya on Erev Shabbat, but that was far from a normal circumstance)
- The wedding is to be held in the home of the bride’s parents in Mea Sharim. Given the small size of homes in Mea Sharim, I assume that it will be a very small wedding.
- An erev Shabbat wedding is not as strange as it seems, at one time it was very common to get married on Erev Shabbat, particularly in Jerusalem where people didn’t have money for lavish weddings. This way the 2 families could eat Sudat Shabbat together which would also be the Sudat Mitzva for the wedding.
However what is not mentioned on the invitation is the ages of the Chatan and Kala.
The Kala is the Granddaughter of Moshe Hirsch, the former leader of Neturei Karta (until his death last year), she was apparently 17 when she got engaged last year and is now 18 (or maybe even 19)
What is more worrying is the Chatan who was 15 last year when he got engaged. Below is a video from his Irusin (engagement). He looks like a scared Bar Mitzva kid with a Shtreimel, not a young man ready to take on the responsibilities of marriage.
Video hat tip: Gruting
4 comments:
The 2pm makes no sense. The British Isles are only 2 hours behind. 4 hours is in the middle of the Atlantic somewhere.
but since when have the idiotic had to make sense?
My first guess that European time referred to the time in Poland or Hungary where Neturei Karta originated, but that is also only 2 hours behind Israel.
Fortunately, given that the wedding probably only consisted of immediate family (how many people could fit in a tine apartment in Mea Sharim), I'm sure that if they weren't sure what time to show up, they would know who to ask.
I also hope that they didn't follow standard Chassidic custom of starting 2-3 hours late, as that would have been Shabbat here, no matter what time they meant on the invitation.
Note the (awful) dead fish handshakes all around.
Dead Fish handshake is what happens after you spend too much time in the sun wearing a fur hat and drinking warm Super Drink Cola.
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