Couple cancels wedding in Israel, gets married in Florida
At first glance, the wedding happening outside a synagogue in North Palm Beach, Florida, appeared to be just an ordinary Orthodox Jewish wedding.
But this wedding was anything but ordinary.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievably heartwarming how Jews, non-Jews, just people came together to give this couple an unbelievable experience,鈥� said Rabbi Leib Ezagui of Jewish Community Synagogue.
The couple is Zalman Raksin and his wife, Daniella.
They live in New York but were scheduled to marry in Israel.
That鈥檚 where Daniella grew up, and it鈥檚 where most of her family still lives.
All their friends and family planned to go to Israel for the wedding.
But then the war started.
Raksin has family in Palm Beach County, so he and Daniella left Israel and went there.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 sure they were actually going to get here,鈥� Ezagui said. "When they finally got here on Thursday, that鈥檚 when we said, 鈥楬ey, let鈥檚 give them a wedding.鈥欌�
鈥淭his is just unbelievable,鈥� Raksin said. "Having to leave Israel and canceling the wedding over there and just making it happen here within a week."
Within in five days, every detail had been taken care of: the flowers, the food, the music.
鈥淲e decided this couple has to get married,鈥� Ezagui said. 鈥淏ecause that鈥檚 how the Jewish people survive. We move on. We grow. We rise above.鈥�
Some of the invited guests could make it to North Palm Beach.
Most could not.
Many of the people at the wedding were strangers who just wanted to give the happy couple a proper wedding.
鈥淲hen you see someone going through something so difficult, you want to be there to show support and show love, even if you don鈥檛 know the person,鈥� said Talia Rockmacher of West Palm Beach.
鈥淲e wanted to make sure that there were people there that could support them and boost them up when they鈥檙e in a sad place,鈥� said Samantha Meltzer of Juno Beach.
And what made the wedding even more special was what happened in Israel the night before.
The original wedding date was Tuesday at a venue just outside of Jerusalem.
A rocket fell there at the exact time they were supposed to be getting married.
鈥淚t was crazy,鈥� Daniella said. 鈥淚t was like Yashem is with us.鈥�
鈥淚t broke my heart,鈥� said Mindy Lew, a friend of the groom. 鈥淚n a place we could have been, but God decided we weren鈥檛 supposed to be there.鈥�
鈥淭hank God we weren鈥檛 there,鈥� Raksin said. 鈥淎nd we weren鈥檛 supposed to be there.鈥�
Instead, they were in North Palm Beach, celebrating and looking forward to a lifetime of happiness.
鈥淭his is the best way for us to stay strong, to stay in control during these times,鈥� said David Steinhauser, a friend of the groom.
鈥淭he good and the mitzvah we are doing, which is getting married, is the biggest and best mitzvah you can possibly do as a Jewish person,鈥� Raksin said.