Jewish Passages
Cycles of Jewish Life
Chapter One
Marriage
On several occasions I have been asked to be a witness at a wedding, to
sign my name on a wedding contract, or ketubba. One memorable instance was
in the United States in the late 1970s. A colleague was getting married,
and after the wedding, she and her husband were planning to spend a year
in Israel. The officiating rabbi was a well-known figure in American
Jewish life. Otherwise, upon arrival, I knew almost no one among the
guests. Soon, however, I heard my name called; I was being summoned to
play a role in the ceremony.
The rabbi, knowledgeable about life in Israel, was concerned that the
marriage be recognized there if a question ever arose among the Israeli
rabbinic authorities. The couple had some thoughts about living in Israel
and, as a Conservative rabbi, he envisioned the possibility that his
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