Twenty-two years ago my husband John and I married with two ceremonies: a December Methodist Blessing ceremony in his hometown and an Episcopal wedding ceremony five months later in Austin, Texas. Did our personalized interfaith wedding raise some eyebrows in my traditional Catholic family? Certainly. Did we enjoy our tailored celebrations and ceremonies? Absolutely. Today,…
On the day of our wedding, before the ceremony, we signed an interfaith ketubah, witnessed by the rabbi, my sister, and Joel’s brother, who were our maid of honor and best man. These wedding contracts traditionally refer to the couple marrying in the tradition of Moses and Israel, but ours instead refers to a home…
Wedding planning was my first real hint that I would find meaning in the sensibilities and rituals of Judaism. Protestant wedding ceremonies tend to be short and to the point. They reflect a low-fuss sensibility that I internalized as I grew up. I associated ritual with the more formal and ornate services of Catholicism or…
No matter what faith, culture or planet you come from, you become a part of the overall indefinable American culture, America does it to everyone! I was in a wedding yesterday, a whole bunch of us on our table were talking about the traditional Muslim culture morphing into the American Culture. Bride’s uncles and aunties…
Young statisticians in love. Can you imagine their wedding? If you do, please don’t imagine anything stuffy or stilted. Because I attended it this weekend, and it was a most excellent multicultural affair. The bride is Jewish, born to North American parents. The groom is Chinese, from a family based in Hong Kong. The groom…
MCCBCHST says it has not agreed to Putrajaya’s proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, that could affect the faith of children born to a marriage in which one spouse later converts. ― Picture by Yusof Mat IsaMCCBCHST says it has not agreed to Putrajaya’s proposed amendments to the Law Reform…
Armed police surrounded a Sikh temple after scores of men, some carrying swords, stormed the building reportedly in an attempt to disrupt an interfaith wedding. Fifty-five people were arrested for aggravated trespass following an eight-hour siege at the Gurdwara Sahib in Leamington Spa, which has a history of tensions over mixed marriages. A group calling…
The Rehat Maryada is unequivocal in its guidance: the Anand Karaj is strictly a ceremony for a Sikh couple. “Nothing has happened on this level before,” were among the words used to describe troubling events at a Sikh temple in Leamington Spa over the weekend. The normal serene ambience of a gurdwara was replaced, albeit…
We all have a choice to believe that there is someone called God who created us intentionally or there is no such thing as God. While a majority of humanity believes in an active God of the universe, nearly 10% of the humanity does not believe that there is something called God which consciously directs…
Q: Dear Rebbetzin, In the coming year I will marry a man whom I love, and who treats me with the utmost respect and love as well. I couldn’t ask for a better partner for me. The problem that my family points out (and that I was raised to understand) is that he is not…