Shabbat Shalom

B"H

A week full of demonstrations lays behind us. As I said before, I am sick of going to further demonstrations and smell burning garbage. I am also lucky that I usually don't use Jerusalem's bus system. Otherwise I would be stuck in the demonstration or tram construction site traffic for hours.

Next week I am going to a chassidic wedding in Bnei Brak and already suffer from doubts. Maybe it is just me, as everyone else involved seems to be happy. So is the bride Ruchele.

She just turned 18 and has been engaged for exactly one year. Ruchele grew up within a closed chassidic society and doesn't expect anything else. On the contrary: She looks so happy because she thinks that as a married woman she belongs to the circle of all the adult women at the Shabbes table.

Despite all the happiness, and now I may sound like the former Gerrer (Gur) member and now runaway Sarah Einfeld: After the Chuppah, the wedding, food and dancing follows the wedding night. This is reality and there you basically going to bed with a guy you don't know.

A secular colleague told me that Ruchele has been raised this way and doesn't see anything wrong with it. So, what ?

I, on the other hand, think about the life she could have had by not getting married so early. Studying, learning a profession, whatever. If her marriage turned out to be not a happy one, would she say so or just continue and accept it as the way of life ?

This is not too much of a Shabbat subject but it still runs around in my thoughts.

"Shabbat Shalom - Gut Schabbes" to everyone !