The war in the South. Elinor Yosephine and Uri Mintzer arrived home last night from Thailand after each of them received a summons for service. The two insisted on getting married before heading to the front.
The wedding took place in Shoham in the presence of their parents and a minyan (a quorum of ten Jewish men). The ceremony was officiated by the city's rabbi and the leader of the organization of Tzohar rabbis, Rabbi David Stav. He conducted the entire process for them, from registration to marriage, and performed the ceremony under the chuppah (wedding canopy). Finally, he gave them his blessing before they went to the front.
The groom, Uri Mintzer, said, "I imagined this moment a thousand times, but I never imagined it like this. I hope we can make the correction and hold the event the way we want. I am fortunate to love my best friend, my past, my present, and my future."
Rabbi David Shtayu said at the wedding ceremony, "Not every day does a couple get married on the eve of going to war, and this wedding expresses your faith in your relationship, it expresses the enduring love between you, between this land, and this people. We pray for you that the home you have built will stand forever. As small as this wedding may have been in scale, with the help of God, when we return in peace, we will make great joy
וְהָיָה רֵאשִׁיתְךָ מִצְעָר, וְאַחרִיתְךָ יִשְׂגֶּה מְאוֹד
'And your beginning will be small, and your end will greatly increase.'"
