To the Editor:
Recently I was a witness to the “latest” in Jewish weddings, one which took place in the best wedding hall in the Bronx. I discovered that Solomon was wrong: there is something new under the sun.
The hall was hired from noon to five, and after two hours of feasting on hors d’oeuvres from a gigantic tiered table which looked like an overblown wedding cake, 150 relatives and friends were finally seated in a triangular-shaped room, the chupeh in front forming the base of the triangle. Suddenly there was a hush and from somewhere inside the wall in front a contralto voice began to sing “Because.” There was quiet for a moment before the strains of the wedding march. The best man, in a tux (which he had hired for the occasion, his wife told me), opened the procession. The organ changed tunes, from Hasidic melodies to “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody” as each member of the procession (including the cameraman) walked to the chupeh.
In full voice the organ brought forth the Mendelssohn Wedding March. The bride’s parents appeared. There was a single chord from the organ. Slowly a white satin curtain parted on one of the walls to reveal a showcase the size of a store window. And there stood the bride, on green crepe paper cut to resemble grass.
The light bulb flashed. She turned slowly around, her bouffant lace gown delicately brushing the green floor, and walked out of the case to meet her waiting mother and father, who slowly brought her halfway to the chupeh, where the groom waited. The cameraman hopped around lightly from the left side to the right, getting the best angles. The rabbi began to chant. There was a shift as people settled in their seats. The bride and groom were going to be married at last.
Ruth Dalin
New York City
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