10 IDF Soldiers Returning From War Marry In Joint TA Ceremony

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In a festive joint ceremony coordinated by Rabbi Shmuel Bistristky, the Chabad emissary from Savyon, ten IDF combat soldiers who had recently been involved in the Gaza fighting got married at the same time in Tel Aviv’s Hangar 11. The wedding was part of a new initiative by singer Lior Narkis and his wife to pay and provides singers and entertainers for soldiers weddings.

Each couple had its own personal chupah with 100 guests and then all of the participants joined together for a large joint meal and celebration. The soldiers have been serving in the IDF reserves since October. Many had been forced to cancel their wedding due to the war.

The couples included some soldiers who cannot be named due to their security level and some who are lone soldiers from abroad. The different ceremonies were conducted by 10 different rabbis at the picturesque location.

Ohr and Raziel, one of the couples, had their wedding postponed a number of times due to the war. “We imagined our wedding as different as possible from this,” Ohr says. “A small, intimate affair. I waited for him to come back from duty so that we could get married as we have dreamed. All these months were full of crazy uncertainty. We didn’t intend a big wedding but this project is exactly what we need.”

“We’re really excited,” added Raziel, a member of the Egoz commando unit. “I saw her for the first time in a wedding dress and she saw me now with a suit. We had planned to get married in January but it was postponed as I was in reserve duty, and now Beit Chabad are realizing our dream of setting up a Jewish home.”