Bus no. 54 from Tel Aviv to Bnei Brak and Kiryat Vishnitz wasn't as full as I had expected. Actually only the regular customers were using it at 4.30pm. Coming back from work and going home.
However, the closer we got to the Kiryah, the more people were flocking in. Obviously Vishnitzer Chassidim wearing their Bekishe and a Streimel. The advantage was that I would know exactly where to get off the bus.
Kiryat Vishnitz is located a kind of on top of Bnei Brak and is a neighbourhood of its own. To say it in simple words: Everything is just Vishnitz. From the bakery to the old age home counselor.
The wedding of Rabbi Shneur Zalman Ernster (Sanhedria HaMe'uchedet/ Jerusalem) and Trante Hager (Monsey and grandchild of the Vishnitzer Rebbe Mordechai Hager / Monsey) took place between the Vishnitzer great Synagogue and different Vishnitzer Yeshivot.
It was very easy to find, as everyone was streaming in. A Vishnitzer Chassid who had told me before that Vishnitz is nice and not as close as the Toldot Aharon was right. "You are too much with Toldot Aharon, he had told me, and you need to see something more "normal".
I don't know if Vishnitz is so "normal" but they are nice people. Women and men arrived together and the signs for the Mechitzah (division between men and women) were so obvious. I knew exactly where to go. First, we women had a look into a kind of yard where all the Chassidim and Rebbes had gathered. Prayers were said and there was singing. However, I didn't rest for too long and continued walking down the road in order to get as close to the Chuppah as I could. And I succeeded.
A building complex served as the Mechitzah and we women had an entire street for ourselves. Everyone including the kids were flocking in while the Chuppah was set up by some Vishnitzer Chassidim. It was already there but some further handy work had to be done. After an hour or so, the groom arrived and a little later the bride climbed on top of the Bimah. She wore a huge white dress and a veil totally covered her face. She lifted up the veil after the ceremony but I hardly saw her face.
Kiddush was said by the Vishnitzer Rebbe Israel Hager and the rest went quite fast. The Belzer rebbe was not under the Chuppah but only family including the old Vishnitzer Rebbe Moshe Yehoshua Hager who was placed on a special chair (the Vishnitzer girls standing next to me called it "Benkel").
It was a nice wedding and you could feel that everything was in the family; people knew each other, as Chussen and Kallah are cousins. The newly couple was very lucky with the weather, as it was nice and relatively warm.
I didn't participate in the Se'udah afterwards but went back to Tel Aviv. Everyone was invited for a meal but when I left I saw many Chassidim not joining but going home.
It was worth seeing the wedding and all the best to the newly married couple !
No comments:
Post a Comment