The Aufruf- a great day

In German "aufruf" means to call or an invocation. But in Ashkenazi Jewish practice, the Shabbat before the wedding the groom is called up to the Torah and blessing are offered in his honor and in honor of the upcoming marriage. blessings are offered in words and in candy tossed at the groom.

In an egalitarian synagogue like ours, both the bride and groom are called to the Torah. So this Shabbat our bride and groom were called up to the Torah. Our groom read Torah for the first time. There are lots of people who have been Jewish since birth who have never read from the Torah scroll. Our groom has been Jewish for about a month and took on this not easy task.

Our bride in addition to reading Torah also read the longest haftarah of the year - all while looking entirely glam while wearing a fascinator she had made herself and a pair of delightfully outrageous shoes.

I was deeply moved by our groom's commitment to doing the right thing and doing the hard things.  I was so touched that so many friends made sure to be there. One of my sisters braved the insane winter storm and took the last train from Boston (that got waylaid and delayed and then gave up the ghost in New Rochelle) to be with us. My other sister really wanted to be here but the birth of her first granddaughter kept her away.

One of the customs of my synagogue is that we often cook for one another. We cook shiva meals for one another. We often have synagogue wide potluck meals. We also bake for one another for joyous events.

We had arranged for a caterer to provide for most of the kiddish meal. I asked my friends to bake desserts. I stopped by where lunch would be served to drop off the brownies and lemon squares my sister had baked. I saw an insane number of desserts, cookies, blondies brownies and several gorgeous cakes. I was deeply moved by the bounty.

After services and may hugs and kisses we went downstairs for the kiddush lunch.  I noticed that the dessert table was adorned with two large sprays of cherry blossoms. They were beautiful. I knew I hadn't ordered flowers ( I probably should have). As friends greeted me I kept asking who had brought the flowers.

It was my friend Celia who not only brought the blossoms and set them into Japanese vases, she also decorated the table with brocade table runners and mosaic lamps. She had rustled up some gold foil covered cardboard tiered cake displays and turned something wonderful, a beautiful bountiful display of sweets and love into something spectacular. Had my mother been alive, she would have arranged the dessert table for me.

I wrote to a friend earlier today that I felt like every nice thing I have done since I moved to New York has been repaid with compound interest. Our kids were raised with lots of family that they were born into. They have also been born into a community of people who have helped to raise and support all of us. These are the people who gave me the advice to support me through pregnancy, who helped me through those hard months of being a new mother, who took my kids when I was exhausted, who gave my kids candy in shul, who supported us while our parents were ailing and dying. I am so glad that we could celebrate this great event with our community.

So the little pre-wedding lunch for 250 or so is over and now we are heading into the home stretch of the wedding prep.

There are no photos but you will have to see this all in your mind's eye.