Our Story
Question
Let your eyes be on the field
Answer
To our dear friends around the world who celebrate with us in heart and in spirit. We are so thankful for each and every one of you, for your prayers and wishes. We wanted to share with you a little glimpse into our story and wedding(s). Photos related to our journey can be found in Gallery. We hope to share wedding photos and the full-length video of the wedding as soon as possible.
Question
Jerusalem, Israel
Answer
Funny enough, even though we were both connected to Whole Word Institute in Jerusalem (https://wholewordinstitute.com), our paths never actually crossed while we were there! For Ariel, a deep calling to help with Bible translation efforts took root way back in his teens, around 2013 (https://vimeo.com/714922985). Dana has been teaching both modern and biblical Hebrew since 2018. In the summer of 2021, as she dove into creating a course on the book of Ruth, it sparked a personal prayer for a relationship marked by a clear sense of destiny, and strongly felt to keep her eyes on the field ("Let your eyes be on the field" Ruth 2:9). Around the same time, in October 2021, Ariel started his own journey with biblical Hebrew at Whole Word. Being in Israel stirred something in him – a growing love for the land itself, and this parallel wish for someone to share it with. Interestingly, just as Ariel arrived, Dana was shifting her focus to establish the Peles Center, an initiative under Christ Church's Mercy Fund (https://www.cmj-usa.org/the-mercy-fund). Drawing on her background in law and conflict resolution, the Peles Center is all about practically empowering individuals and communities through professional and heartfelt support, bringing together Jewish and Arab followers of Jesus to serve people from all backgrounds. Over his two years in Israel, Ariel blossomed in his Hebrew skills, becoming incredibly fluent. He decided to focus his energy on Bible translation consultancy, as well as teaching biblical Hebrew and the fascinating world of oral Bible translation.
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South Africa
Answer
When his time in Israel came to an end, He continued his work and studies with Whole Word, but this time from South Africa! At the very same time, Dana had a teaching course in South Africa lined up. When it got canceled, she felt a prompting to go anyway for a couple of months, and it ended up being a time of unexpected inner healing and restoration.
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Jerusalem (and Greece, and North Cyprus)
Answer
Then, in a twist of fate, we both found ourselves back in Israel around the same time, again completely unaware of each other's whereabouts! Then came October 7th. Everything changed. Dana and the Mercy Fund team were immediately responding to urgent needs and overwhelming requests for help, especially of many terror and war victims who needed help navigating their way through war beaurocracy. Ariel stepped up to care for the students at the institute, guiding them to safety in Greece. He managed the logistics of the whole relocation of the team and the students during the intense first months of war. Dana stayed behind to continue teaching the students who remained in Israel, but also increased her involvement in the Isaiah 19 movement to netwrok between different middle eastern inniatives. Among the rest, Two times went on short trips to North Cyprus to do workshops for Afghen young women who were rescued from the Taliban by the help of two NGO's: https://www.theshaifund.org/ https://atriskwomen.com/ Dana has learnt a lot while spending time with these amazing young women, and has been trying to help them out find permanent assylum, together with the mentioned organizations (it hasn't been easy, prayers are greatly needed...)
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Ethiopia
Answer
In March 2024, we were both sent "to the field" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while teaching the Book of Jonah together. That's where we really started to get to know each other. Dana was the queen of improvisation, and Ariel played the stormy sea of the Jonah story with great enthusiasm (and maybe a little too much!). We had so much fun and some really deep conversations about the Bible and Hebrew. However, we were also quite aware of our age difference, so a romantic relationship didn't really seem like a real possibility, and we tried to run away from the idea, a bit like Jonah did :)
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Benin
Answer
In July 2024, we were sent to another "field" – to teach the extended Jonah course together in Benin, West Africa. There, we also formed a special bond with a single mother and her two kids. After teaching during the day, playing with the kids in the afternoons, and sharing endless conversations during barefoot moonlit walks at night – it became crystal clear that despite the age gap and cultural differences, something truly special was happening :)
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Israel
Answer
Back in Israel, our relationship grew stronger, filled with Bible studies on the story of Ruth and Boaz (identity and destiny), the story of David (how God sees to the heart and how David chose Jerusalem), and on the story of Caleb and Joshua (with Dana being more like the fierce Caleb and Ariel more like the quieter and great chosen leader - Joshua).
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South Africa
Answer
Together, we traveled to South Africa for Ariel to complete his MA internship. We spent time "on the field" with the amazing Koi people and their Kaaps translation project (https://wycliffe.org.za/en/kaaps), learning more about how Bible translation empowers communities. We also spent a lot of time with incredible prayer warriors and realized the vital importance of the bridge between Israel and Africa, especially during these times (with South Africa's official stance against Israel). We felt a calling to be a part of that bridge. In the continent where it all began for us, it was only natural to get engaged :)
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Benin/Israel
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Ariel then continued on to Benin, and Dana returned to Israel. In Benin, Ariel helped teach the Book of Ruth course (the very one Dana created!), with a strong emphasis on identity, purpose, and destiny.
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To the fields and beyond
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As we explore those exact themes in our new shared life together, we are excited to set our eyes on several fields: eliminating Bible poverty, fostering deeper Jewish-Gentile relations (especially Jewish-Palestinian), building stronger relationships between Israel and the nations (in the Middle-East particularly, and creating a platform for accessible Hebrew Bible study. We are looking forward to making our home in Israel and serving God from there and beyond.
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The wedding ceremony
Answer
Our wedding celebrations in the US and Israel are taking place during the special time of counting the harvest, so our weddings' theme will be no other than the "Counting the Harvest" and of course - the Book of Ruth. The US wedding ceremony program can be found bellow. In Israel, it will be quite similar, only with a different set of the seven blessings – blessings inspired by the Book of Ruth. In awareness of the hostages, in the US wedding yellow ribbons will be part of the decorations and in Israel the shofar will be blown as white and yellow balloons will be released into the air. We wish you could all be here with us, but we feel your love and support from afar. Thank you for being a part of our lives! With much love, Ariel (Sanford) and Dana
Question
The Chuppah (1)
Answer
Jesus said (John 14:2-3) – “In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be." What did Jesus mean? In the bible, there are two stages of marriage. First, the betrothal which is the commitment and promise to come and take the bride who is set apart for the man. Its length is often unknown and depends on different factors (the bride's age, the groom's ability to provide, etc.). Second, the taking of the bride to the groom's father's house (or to his own share in his father's house), so that she would live and be with him wherever he is. In bible times, because everyone lived with everyone else in small spaces, it was customary for a couple's bed to have a covering for modesty. This covering rested on four posts at both ends of the bed, so that the covering was spread over the bed. This covering was called a chuppah. Deriving from the verb "to cover". In honor of the bride and groom, a beautiful covering of honor was prepared for their first night in the groom's father's house - and the word chuppah was later used specifically to mean the bridal bed's magnificent covering and/or the bridal/marriage room. After the wedding feast, the bride and groom would enter the bride and groom's room, where the bed with the beautiful covering (the chuppah) was fixed on the bed for the consummation of the marriage [with witnesses accompanying them when they entered the room].
Question
The Chuppah (2)
Answer
If Jesus is the bridegroom and we are the bride, then we can better understand Jesus’ words about the many rooms in His Father’s house and that He is committed to us as His bride (betrothal) and that He will come to take us to Him in an unknown time and consummate the marriage in these bridal rooms, so that we would be and live with Him where he is. The Chuppah is a reminder of the hope for the day when Jesus will come and take us to the many rooms in His Father’s house. As it is written in (Isaiah 4:3-6) – The Lord will create a cloud and fire, a tabernacle, a shadow, a shelter, and a hiding place for all those written in the book of life in Jerusalem. Like what? Like a glorious Chuppah, and then we will know Him and He us - in intimacy. Therefore, the Chuppah also symbolizes the couple’s wish for their covenant to be covered by God's protection, glory and light.
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The Bride Circling the Groom
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The number seven, as we all know, is a number with fundamental significance in the Bible, usually meaning completeness and divine intervention. Seven laps also remind us of the Seven laps around the wall of Jericho till it fell as Joshua and the Israelites entered the Promised Land (Joshua 6), symbolizing the couple’s entry into their promised land, wishing for wholeness, and divine intervention even in challenging times – for walls of animosity to fall down and walls of protection to be built. The stories of Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan, and the walls of Jericho were stories that accompanied Ariel and Dana at the beginning of their relationship and have special meaning for them. The symbolism of a line and a circle / male and female - The groom standing as a line and a pillar symbolizes linear thinking and practical handling, a clear beginning and a clear end. The bride circling, symbolizes the invisible and eternal matters of soul and spirit. Together, they symbolize that marriage is the crossroad of the physical and the spiritual, and that these two expressions are essential to the fulfillment of their covenant on earth.
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Entrance Songs
Answer
SD songs: The Bridegroom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf8PS8ZrGqI&pp=ygUVdGhlIGJydWRlZ3Jvb20gcm9ib3Rz) Glory under ashes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMobyfoG2Ac&pp=ygUUbm9nYSBwZWVyIHRhaGF0IGVmZXI%3D) Israel songs: Ten Li Yad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOHQepYpl0&pp=ygUg16rXnyDXnNeZINeZ15Mg15nXldeg15kg16jXm9eY16g%3D) He shall speak peace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDMAvea29bg)
Question
Counting of the Harvest (1)
Answer
According to the biblical calendar – we are now in the second month of the biblical year. During this season, Israelites are instructed to count each and every day for 49 days (Leviticus 23:9-22, Deuteronomy 16:9-12). Seven weeks. From the harvest of barley to the harvest of wheat, from the exodus out of Egypt to the encounter with God in Mt. Sinai, from Jesus' resurrection to the receiving of the Holy spirit. From the middle of the first month to the beginning of the third month, all throughout the second month (according to the biblical calendar) we are to count days of the harvest. It is very meaningful for Ariel and Dana to marry during the counting of the harvest days on the second month of the biblical calendar. As they have been counting each and every day, Ariel and Dana learnt few things about its meaning, especially in relation to their marriage. In this season of the beginning of the biblical year, few things have happened that taught them that a new beginning is more of an ongoing process than a momentary point on the timeline.
Question
Counting of the Harvest (2)
Answer
On the 1st of the 1st month, the Israelites finished the establishment of the tabernacle on which allowed them to begin their journey in the desert, yet it was only after seven weeks , on the 20th of the second month that they actually started to wander (Numbers 10:11-13)On the 1st day of the 1st month the flood waters receded from the earth and Noah removed the covering of the ark, yet it was only on the 27th of the second month when God instructed Noah to leave the ark and begin a whole new life (Genesis 8:13-16) On the first month the Passover is being celebrated, yet during the second month, those who for different reasons could not celebrate the Passover on the 14th of the 1st month, were allowed to celebrate it on the 14th of the second month, which is this very evening. (Numbers 9, Deuteronomy 2:30) These events, as well as the counting of the harvest itself which ties between Passover and Pentecost and makes it one prolonged feast, all highlight the teaching of the bible that beginnings are more than simply a moment in time, but a but include an extended season of development intended to lay a foundation for the year's journey ahead, moving toward maturity, growth or consummation of some kind. A prolonged beginning which is meant to lay a foundation for the whole year or journey to come, or in the instance of marriage – a foundation for a whole shared life. It is understandable why some see the second month as a season of betrothal, with the exodus typifying the choosing of the bride and the Pentecost exemplifying either the marriage or at least the guarantee and payment ensuring the later coming and taking of the bride. A season which symbolizes preparation for a commitment and a purpose of some kind. As we will see together, the counting of the harvest has quite a few aspects – agricultural, historical, spiritual, personal and interpersonal – all relevant to a life of marriage.
Question
Counting of the harvest - Agriculturaly
Answer
In the busiest and most critical season of the agricultural year, in the season of harvesting the first and main crops, which will determine the provision for the whole year. In that season, while being out and about in their fields, The Lord commanded His people to consciously and mindfully count each and every day. On the first day we lift up the first fruits, the green fresh barley and thank the Lord when something is still not quite ripe, but expectant, even before we know what will come out of the harvest. We acknowledge that, as humans we need, first and foremost the blessing of the Lord in all our efforts. Thus, at this moment, we worship the Lord using the human strength that He's given us in this primary harvest. During 49 days we continue to harvest, winnow, thresh, sift, and grind until, at the end of seven full weeks we are ready to bake; to prepare two leavened loaves of wheat bread and lift them as well, before The Lord, on the 50th day. This bread now exemplifies the collaboration of our human creativity with God's creation gift, the grain He provides from the ground. This partnership is one into which we are perpetually invited in all that our God desires to do in the Earth; a partnership between heaven and earth, spirit and soil, God's divine activity and blessing, with man's contributing labor. In the same way - Ariel and Dana are thankful to God today for the beginning of their life harvest, before they even know what will the quality of the crop be, but they look forward in anticipation to toil together, harvest together and to create together living crafts out of all the blessings, as well as hardships, they will be blessed with.
Question
Counting of the harvest - Historically
Answer
The counting season invites us to be released from inner and outer bondages and to engage in the shaping of the time, place and society in which we live in. It was exactly in this season that the Israelites were journeying for 7 weeks on their way out of Egypt to encounter God at Mt. Sinai. An active journey of leaving slavery behind, not only in their bodies, but also in their hearts and minds. 7 weeks of preparation for freedom. Freedom in its widest sense did not mean only to be liberated from bondage, but also being filled with a sense of identity, belonging, meaning and purpose, as the encounter in Mt. Sinai symbolizes: To know The Lord, to know who we are in Him, to partner with Him in shaping our lives with His instructions, as well as to embrace the responsibility to apprehend and apply them daily. Years later, during this same season - Jesus was crucified on Passover, rose like the fresh first fruits barley lifted before the Lord, and then remained with His disciples for the first 40 days of counting. He instructed them about the kingdom of God and the task they were to carry out. He strengthened and prepared them for their task ahead, which could only be fulfilled after His departure and the coming of the Spirit 10 days later. Freedom, once again, begins with a release from bondage exemplified by Passover, and then by the power of Jesus' resurrection, but surely does not end there. It matures with the development of a deep sense of belonging, meaning, purpose and responsibility by the Spirit, making believers into disciples who partner with God's dream for His world. In the same way, Ariel and Dana are not only happy in "their release" from singleness, and not only excited to explore their new identity and belonging as a new family, but are also excited about their responsibility to discover their purpose and duty towards the society in which they live in, and to fulfill their duty according to their ability.
Question
Counting of the harvest - On a personal and interpersonal level
Answer
The counting of the harvest is a season of active counting and accounting, which occurs during a time of many practical works, since beyond the harvest in itself, there are many activities to perform until we reach the final product. Just as with the creation of bread, in order to reach a good, nurturing and satisfying marriage, many daily actions require careful and intentional investment: To separate the wheat from the chaff, to extract the grains of our life experiences and their essence from their husks. To sift and sort out within ourselves all our thought patterns, defense mechanisms, enslaving habits, internal conflicts and interpersonal disputes, opinions and differences. To grind to a fine powder all our lessons, insights, questions, hopes and dreams. To mix it all and knead it from all angles, stretch, fold and re-tighten until we obtain a uniform texture and a cohesive dough. To let this dough sit, and slowly rise to its fullness. Then finally to bake until we obtain bread - the fruit of our joint creation with God. The counting of the harvest invites all of us to an inner reflection and joint creation. Marriage is a wonderful way of God to challenge and encourage us in our inner and inter-personal development and growth. Seven times seven. 49 days, 49 steps, 49 aspects, expressions, nuances of drawing near, of sanctification and dedication. A season of becoming; a process of growing in the beauty of holiness, true freedom, meaning, identity, vision, purpose and destiny - alone and together, with God.
Question
Counting of the harvest - Ruth & Boaz
Answer
Now it is probably clearer why some sages compared the days of the counting of harvest to a period of betrothal before marriage. It is no coincidence that the courageous story of Boaz and Ruth took place during these very days, the days of counting of the Harvest, when Ruth returned to a place from which she had not come, just as Ariel will return to a place from which she had not come from - Israel. Ariel and Dana find many parallels in their story to the story of Boaz and Ruth: Like Boaz and Ruth - in the days that are like the days of the judges in Israel, when each person sees what is right in his own eyes, and the land is at war – a love story has been woven between them. Like Boaz and Ruth - they too dare to develop a bond that slightly deviates from the accepted norms of age and culture. After all, the Book of Ruth tells us that God himself also went out of his own way. It was He who commanded that Moabites should not come into the congregation of Israel, and He Himself who changes in this case His own the rules and teaches us that sometimes it is worth thinking outside the box. Like Boaz and Ruth - a bond has grown between a Jew and a non-Jew – in which the non-Jew chooses willingly to leave his father and mother and his homeland to tie his fate, future and destiny, not only with Dana, but also with her people – the people of Israel. As Ruth said to Naomi: "Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God. Wherever you die, I will die—and there I will be buried." It is no coincidence that such a story of destiny beyond pure romance is happening in the days of the counting of the harvest.
Question
Counting of the harvest - concluding thoughts
Answer
As theirs is too in many ways, a unique union, it was significant for Ariel and Dana to be married in the exact middle, the full moon of the second month, in the midst of the season of counting. This particular moment, in fact more than just a moment in time, or merely the celebration of their marital covenant, it contains and implies an extended and developing new beginning of their lives together; the commencement of an exciting journey of discovery and exploration of their new identity as one flesh. It is the inception of a new experience of belonging, a shared vision, an emerging mutual destiny, an unfolding of service to one another, as wella s to others.
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Inspiration of the rings (1)
Answer
The wedding rings that Ariel chose are in the shape of Jerusalem's walls. Another interesting thing that happened in the season of the counting of the harvest in the second month was the beginning of the building of the Temple in Jerusalem by King Solomon (1 Kings 6:1). He built it in Jerusalem because that was God's chosen place. Yet, an interesting thing about God's choice of Jerusalem is that actually, according to the biblical narrative, it was influenced by the choice of one human being. Jerusalem was barely mentioned in the Torah. It was not a significant city nor a chosen place. It was an unimportant city, between the territories of Benjamin and Judah, and no great efforts were made to conquer it during the era of Joshua. The first who saw its significance was a young shepherd, the smallest of many sons, and strange to his brothers, beautiful in eyes and good looking (1 Samuel 16:11-12, Psalm 69:9) – David. David buried Goliath's head in Jebus, which is Jerusalem (1 Samuel 17:54). He then conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital city (2 Samuel 5:6-8, 1 Chronicles 11:4-5), he brought the Ark of the Covenant there in an impressive ceremony, with sacrifices, singing, and dancing (2 Samuel 6:13). In doing so, he established Jerusalem as the political and ritual center, and later bought the Jebusite threshing floor (2 Samuel 24:16-24, 1 Chronicles 21:8-24) for the temple to be built upon (1 Chronicles 22:1). According to the biblical account, God appears as supporting the choice of Jerusalem only after David's death (1 Kings 11:13, 32, 36), as a proof of His loyalty to His covenant with the house of David. Few times in that chapter, God owns David's choice as his own and says: “Jerusalem, which I have chosen”. These very words are engraved inside the rings, since from the beginning of their relationship, Ariel felt strongly from God to explore the mystery of free human choice and God's leading.
Question
Inspiration of the rings (2)
Answer
After all, interestingly, as much as it was clearly David who chose Jerusalem to be God's chosen place, it is not a coincidence that the very chosen location within Jerusalem was no other than Mt. Moriah. The mountain which God chose for Abraham to present absolute human loyalty and devotion. The mountain which God's own choice of a sacrifice was presented. Often mistranslated as: "God will provide", but is literally "God will see to himself", meaning "God will choose/select/find worthy" (Genesis 22:8), so it was said: "In the mountain of God it will be seen/chosen" (Genesis 22:14). Who chose Jerusalem first? Was it David? or God? or both? Whatever the answer might be, it was to Mt. Moriah where Ariel and Dana walked together (Genesis 22:8), (Genesis and it was there where they symbolically and willingly put the future of their relationship on the altar, in their wish to examine their choice in light of God's will and leading. Few months later, following their joint study about choosing Jerusalem, Ariel said to Dana: "You are my Jerusalem.", acknowledging the mystery of human choice and God's leading. It is their wish that their life together will always combine the partnership The Lord so desires between the divine will and human choices.
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Oaths
Answer
[To be added after the wedding]
Question
The seven blessings
Answer
The essence of the Jewish wedding ceremony is expressed in the seven blessings, which are recited by family and friends' representatives. The blessings are meant as thanks and praise to God. Some of the blessings begin with “Blessed are you, O Lord” because we recognize that the Lord is blessed as He is the source of all blessings. The blessings describe and recognize God as the one who makes the bride and groom happy. The blessings also link the couple's private joy, with other joys as well: the joy of creation, and especially the joy of human beings being created in God's image, and the joy of barren Jerusalem with her sons. It is a Jewish tradition for the parent to wrap the bride and groom with a prayer shawl (tallit and tzitzit), for the recitation of the blessings to be received with humbleness. Ariel and Dana's chuppah is made of that Shawl. It is also a Jewish tradition to have wine in joyful and sanctified events. According to Numbers 15:1-15 [see also Genesis 35:14] – Wine is a type of a drink offering which was offered together with a wheat flour and oil offering (and salt) alongside a burnt offering or a grain offering. These offerings are never sin sacrifices, but express humility / joy / thanksgiving / peace / wholeness / closeness before God. Therefore, wine has become a symbol of celebrating God and celebrating with God, as well as abundance and joy (Judges 9:13, Psalm 144:15). Wine also becomes better and better as it ages, and the hope is that love will also become better and better as it develops and matures (Song of Song 1:2).
Question
Seven blessings - South Dakota
Answer
1st blessing - Creator of the vine - "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.” 2nd blessing - Creator of all - "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has created all things for His glory." 3rd blessing - Creator of man - "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Creator of man." 4th blessing - Creator of woman from man - "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who created man in His image, in the likeness of his own form, and prepared from him an everlasting edifice. Woman. Blessed are You Lord, Creator of mankind" 5th blessing - The joy of the barren woman - "The barren one will surely rejoice and be overjoyed at the joyful ingathering of her children to her midst. Blessed are You Lord, who gladdens Zion through her children." 6th blessing - The joy of friends – "You will surely bring gladness to beloved friends, as You gladdened Your created beings in the Garden of Eden long ago. Blessed are You Lord, who gladdens the groom and bride." 7th blessing - The joy of marriage - "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who created rejoicing and gladness, groom and bride, frolicking, jubilation, cheer and bliss love and loyalty, harmony and deep friendship. Lord our God, let there soon be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the exaltation of grooms from the chupah, and of youths from their song-filled feasts. Blessed are You Lord, who gladdens the groom with the bride."
Question
Seven Blessings - Israel
Answer
1st blessing - Creator of the vine 2nd blessing - Ruth 2:19-20 - “Blessed be he who took notice of you by the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness from the living and from the dead.” 3rd blessing - Ruth 3:10-11 - “May you be blessed of the Lord... You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. Now… do not fear… for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. " 4th blessing - Ruth 4:14-15 - “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become known in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age;" 5th blessing - Ruth 2:12 – "May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge." 6th blessing - Ruth 4:12 – "May your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman." 7th blessing - Ruth 4:11 – "May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem."
Question
Blessing of He Who Has Kept Us Alive
Answer
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive and established us and brought us to this day. Recited by Ariel & Dana
Question
Breaking of the glass
Answer
Even in times of great joy, it is a Jewish wedding tradition to take a moment to remember that there is still suffering and pain in the world, and that our joy is not yet complete. It is a moment dedicated to share in the sorrow around us and to wish and pray for the comfort and peace of God to those who are not experiencing it. This tradition is symbolized by the groom reciting Psalm 137:5-6, which promises to remember Jerusalem after its destruction and the wish to return and rebuild it, followed by the breaking of the glass. The sorrow for the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, is mentioned as a symbol of many troubles in the world. The mixture of experiencing celebration and sorrow altogether is well known to Ariel and Dana, since their love story developed during a time of ongoing armed conflict, 584 days of war, rockets flying overhead, running to bomb shelters, hostility, losses, grief, and providing aid to those in need. Their relationship was accompanied by constant reminders of life's fragility, and of the evil that prevails in this world. In these moments, from their joyful moment, we would like to remember and send comfort, hope, faith and love to all the brokenhearted in the world, especially for the inhabitants of the holy land, who have lost loved ones or who are living in fear, and are seeking peace and life. Ariel and Dana’s heart is especially burdened for the 59 hostages , 584 days in captivity. They hope and pray for their immediate release from the terror tunnels. On each table they placed a yellow candle with the yellow ribbon between white candles, to symbolize their brothers and sisters in captivity and the resilience from which Ariel and Dana are building their new home. Psalm 137:5-6 - "If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to work. Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my chiefest joy"
Question
Final songs
Answer
South Dakota - Drawing water in gladness (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4m69tY6cTM&pp=ygULbWF5aW0gbWF5aW3SBwkJhgkBhyohjO8%3D) Israel - Our sister (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p717BEdYN7c) Israel Dance song - Dance through your life (Paul Benjamin)