Hi! Thank you all so much for being here. I am not the one for speeches. Jake’s tzevet (unit) knows he’s ha melech (the King) of motivational speeches. But, I have some things I’d like to say. So bear with me :)
Most of you know Jake and I were on vacation for Sukkot when this war broke out. I came back to the States and Jake went north to the Hermon. For the first two weeks, I was THE worst fiancé. Every day I begged him to come home. Finally, the shock wore off, and I realized that this man’s love for Israel and his strong desire to defend her was much bigger than us. That he would not leave until the army told him to. I accepted it, and I’ve never been more proud of him.
Some of you may be wondering, how did we get here? I was sitting at home missing Jake like crazy and realizing I wanted to come back here to Israel to see him. Jake’s sister Devorah was in St. Louis visiting for Shabbat and had the most AMAZING idea for us to get married on Jake’s base. And then, the plans started happening. This was only a month ago, wow!
We don’t know how long the war will go on, but we didn’t want to spend any more time NOT being married. We just wanted to have a kosher wedding in Israel, but all of you helped turn this into the wedding of our dreams. It’s far more than anything we ever could have imagined.
For those of you who don’t know, I converted to Judaism. My journey to Judaism started over 15 years ago, but I can honestly say it was through this war, through this wedding, that I finally saw firsthand the incredible achdut (unity), the incredible chesed (loving-kindness) of Israelis. You are an incredible people, like none other. The way you unite during tragedy… The way you pulled off this incredible simcha (joyous occasion) for us… Everyone who donated their services, time, supplies… I couldn’t be happier to be part of klal yisrael (The Jewish People). You are doing Judaism well. You’re making Hashem so happy. Thank you for loving Jake and me, in this way, during such a difficult time for all of us.
And while I’m thanking people, I want to say thank you to our amazing families back home in the United States. When we decided to get married in Israel, during a war, we knew it would mean that our families couldn’t be here, though they all wanted to be. And, though we plan on eventually having a reception in St. Louis to celebrate with them, there is a big piece of our hearts not here today. I want to thank our parents for supporting our decision to elope and loving us from afar. I want to thank our siblings who we know wish could be here, standing next to us. Thank you for supporting us as we complete our dream of getting married in Israel. We love you all so much. Mom, Dad, Lane and Dan, Langley, Beckett, Hollie, Avery and Tom. I love you so much. And to Jake’s family, Bubby, Rabbi and Sarah Miriam Goldson, Avigayil and Akiva, Adeline and Asher, Yitzy and Ariella and Maia, and of course, Devorah. We love you all so so much. We can’t wait to celebrate you in the States when Jake is back.
And, I want to thank my friends and extended family who, since the war broke out, have been praying for Jake, praying for his entire tzevet (many have your Hebrew names), praying for all our chayalim (soldiers), praying for our hostages, and praying for all of Israel. Your prayers and messages of support mean the world to us.
When I got to Israel Thursday night, I kept telling Jake I couldn’t describe the feeling of peace I had. Peace that I was in the country where everyone understood what I was feeling. Peace that Jake was close, and for the first time in two months I wasn’t worried about his safety. I don’t think I’ve said “Baruch Hashem” (Praise G-d!) to myself more times consecutively in 15 years.
This man means the world to me. He’s my best friend. Chayal sheli (my soldier) and now B’ali (my husband). Which, I just found out on Monday, means “my owner” in Hebrew ha. It’s ok. There’s no one I trust more to “own” me. I have never met a man with such incredible values, and such a big heart for helping others. Everyone I meet who knows Jake tells me what an incredible person he is. It’s the truth. I am so lucky he (finally) decided he wanted to marry me, lol. I’ve been wanting to marry him pretty much since the day we met almost three years ago. I can’t believe Hashem gave me a man this good. I don’t know that I’ve ever been this happy.
But even in happiness, there is sadness. And I think that’s ok. While we’re celebrating tonight, many of Jake’s friends couldn’t be here because they are busy defending our country. We know that now, while we’re celebrating, many are sitting shiva (6-week mourning period), and many are mourning. While we’re celebrating tonight, over a hundred of our people are still in captivity in a hell I can’t even imagine. None of this is right. None of this makes sense. But I keep saying, they cannot steal our joy from us. We won’t let them take our joy.
So, even though we are mourning so many lost, and even though we are praying for the hostages’ safe return, and even though our loved ones are still on the front lines fighting to defend our right to be Jewish and to be a free people in our Land, we will celebrate the many simchas that we are given in our short time on this earth.
Thank you all for sharing this incredible, meaningful moment with us. TODA RABA! ANI OHEVET OTCHEM! (Thank you, I love you all)
