After a couple of interesting wedding (and divorce) stories, here is another...
It is very common for weddings in Israel, specifically Israeli weddings (not necessarily the weddings of anglos living in Israel) to start very late. Very very late. The time noted on the wedding invitation often has nothing to do with what time the wedding will actually begin.
COL has the story of one wedding that started late, very late, because the rabbi officiating never showed up - and he ended up paying for it, literally..
A couple from the Sharon region went to get married in a hall in Netanya. Ready to begin, the only thing missing was the rabbi. They waited and waited, unable to reach him by cellphone. With people getting impatient and some leaving, they eventually got hold of the chief rabbi of Netanya and explained the predicament. He eventually found an alternative rabbi to go to the hall and officiate the wedding. The alternate rav was arranged and came to the hall at 11 PM to conduct the wedding.
By then, many of the guests had left already, and they ended up serving only about half of the number of meals that had been ordered.
A few days later the married couple filed a lawsuit against the rabbi that was supposed to officiate but never showed up. They sued for financial damages along with grief and trauma for the disturbing and troubling experience he put them through.
The rabbi first claimed, when he finally was reached, that he had been on his way to the wedding but got lost on the way. When it went to court he said that he has diabetes and a decline in his health caused him to miss the wedding, and he only arrived home that day after midnight because of his health issue.
He also claimed that they did not provide him with adequate directions to the hall. The court rejected the claim and said he should know that they cannot get married without him and he should have been in touch with them to let them know he couldn't get there and to make reasonable alternate arrangements.
At the end of the day, the court fined the rabbi 30,000 NIS for a combination of financial damages and grief caused, and also decided the responsibility lies solely on him and not on the religious council for which he works.
This was an extreme case. While many weddings start late, even very late, the way this wedding is described is absolutely ridiculous.
While on the subject of possible litigation at weddings, how about the guests suing the couple for grief for staying in the yihud room for too long. I was once at a wedding where the main course had been served and the couple were still in there with all their friends singing and dancing at the doorway trying to convince them to eventually come out.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that such a suit wouldnt fly because it is already considered common practice. The judges would have to say even though it is wrong to do it is expected and should be taken into account when going to a wedding
ReplyDeleteThe chiloni and dati leumi weddings I've attended since my aliyah have all pretty much started on time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your perceived standard practice of weddings starting "very very late" only applies to Haredi/yeshivish weddings?
How unfortunate. I can imagine the stress level going through the roof. Kinda happy not to have produced that one.
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