Wedding Bells in Gerusalemme

(or "Sono lieti di annunciare il matrimonio dei loro figli . . ." )

Today I got a wedding invitation in Italian!

One of my favorite ulpan classmates, Filippo, who hails from Firenze, is marrying his long-time Israeli love, Efrat. I'm so excited to go to this wedding. Filippo is one of the nicest people I know; it couldn't be happening to a better person. Plus, some of my other favorite ulpan classmates, as well as our teacher, will also be there. The teacher, Ruti, had to leave our class a month before it ended because she had cancer. I'm happy to know that she's sufficiently better to come to Filippo's wedding.

I love that the wedding invitation is simple. A folded card with the information in Hebrew and Italian and a nice quotation on the cover. None of this ridiculous silk-lined envelope shtick, or reply cards, or millions of little cards falling out with information about related events. And in particular, I don't miss the ridiculously cliche and often ugly monograms that people make in the US. The first time I saw one of those monograms, when I was about 19, I thought "oh, how romantic, their initials are intertwining, just like their lives." After the 10th one, I knew it was just a style that everyone felt compelled to copy. (I just managed to insult about 20 of my married friends. Well, you have to admit, there's no law, Jewish or otherwise, that says the marriage is invalid unless you have a cutesy image with your initials hidden inside for the guests to puzzle out.)

Anyhow, for anyone looking for good news coming out of Israel, just know that soon a lovely Italian Jewish man with a good heart is marrying a very sweet Israeli girl. They should have many years of happiness and good health. Mazal tov!