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Years After Their Divorce, Nonagenarian Lovebirds Marry in Surprise Ceremony

Your Monday feel good story

by
Liel Leibovitz
October 30, 2017
Shutterstock
Shutterstock
Shutterstock
Shutterstock

An Israeli couple—she’s 93, he’s 91—remarried this weekend, years after their divorce, in a surprise ceremony organized by their community. The two, residents of Eli, in southern Samaria, continued to live together after their separation, and were certain that Jewish law did not permit them to get remarried.

Earlier this month, they celebrated Sukkot with their rabbi, Avraham Schiller, when the subject of their relationship status came up. The two were delighted to learn there was no halachic ruling barring them from reuniting, but added that at their age, it was probably a bit too late. Touched, the rabbi enlisted the help of several people in the community, including the students at a local yeshiva, and organized an impromptu ceremony for the two last Thursday.

“We didn’t really want to get married,” quipped the couple, “but we’re getting a lot of pressure from our parents.”

Here, because it’s Monday and we can use every bit of good vibrations to get us through the week, is a video of the happy couple exchanging their vows, which has already gone viral in Israel:

Liel Leibovitz is editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and a host of its weekly culture podcast Unorthodox and daily Talmud podcast Take One. He is the editor of Zionism: The Tablet Guide.