Invaluable gifts of time — and timeless — treasures.
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
T
he classic wedding present —
wrapped in sparkly silver paper or
inserted into a greeting card — is, no
doubt, much appreciated; and if it comes
from the couple’s registry, even anticipated.
But, once in a great while, a gift comes with
such extended meaning and touching, per-
sonal consideration that, for the recipients, it
is priceless.
health, fertility, wisdom and security.
“Ofer’s late dad was Moroccan, and it’s a
TOP TO BOTTOM:
typical
Sephardi tradition to have a henna
An heirloom tapestry in
ceremony sometime the week of the wedding,”
Jennifer and Saul Rube’s
said Julie of West Bloomfield. “We put our own
home.
spin on it and did it at the wedding reception
instead to be able to include all of the guests
Ofer and Julie Ohana
and family from out of town.”
during the henna
The ceremony included special music and
ceremony
outfits — including caftans, hats and scarves
at their wedding.
— brought with Ofer’s sister from Israel.
FAMILY HEIRLOOM
Andy and Erika Bocknek
“Ofer and I were sitting on ‘thrones,’ and his
For Jennifer Epstein Rube and her husband,
under the chuppah.
mom and stepmom and sisters brought over
Saul A. Rube, of Oak Park, a fabric art piece
a pair of vintage white gold and diamond ear-
was not only a gift of beauty, but one that
Thea Gardin, 6, and her
rings and a necklace,” Julie said. “I had no idea
also became an everyday reminder of the
sister Ava, 2, with their
that this was coming, and it was given by such
gift-giver and of Jennifer’s ancestry.
mom, Miriam, lighting
special people at such a special moment, when
“My Grandpa Julian died three weeks
her grandmother’s
I was already feeling like the luckiest person in
before my engagement,” Jennifer said. “When
candlesticks.
the world.
family was going through his possessions, my
“They are, to date, the best gifts I have got-
sister had a tapestry — painted by my great-
ten from him,” she added. “I so treasure these
grandmother Adele Priebatsch Lewinthal in
pieces of jewelry. I wear them and remember those feelings
Mississippi in the early 1900s — restored as a wedding gift.
of happiness, and it makes me feel that same way still. This
It had spent 60-plus years rolled up in a closet in my grand-
jewelry is just one more symbol and reminder of how lucky
parents’ Erie, Pa., home. It is a copy of a ‘famous’ painting
Ofer and I are. We love each other more today than eight
that no one — including us — seems to know and my
years ago, and I know we will continue to love each other
grandpa always called ‘Rebecca by the Well.’”
even more each day that goes by.”
The Rubes, who were married at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in December 1997, both “love family heirlooms,”
Jennifer said. “When we got married, I knew that we were
EVOKING MEMORIES
not just merging our lives but those of our families and
In the Oak Park home of Bayla Hochheiser-Berman and her
those of our histories. This was a beautiful tangible expres-
husband, Sruly Berman, is a one-of-a-kind garnet-colored
sion of that. The tapestry proudly hangs in our home over
mezuzah that evokes the honor and memory of a beloved
our staircase. Every day when I walk downstairs to greet
aunt.
the day I see the reminder of my sister’s gift and my family’s
“When each of my five siblings got married, my Aunt
history.”
Tami Fink wanted to buy them something Jewish as a wed-
ding gift; so she and my Uncle Gary, who lives in Oak Park,
SHARED CULTURAL TRADITIONS
would buy a glass to be broken under the chuppah, which
In the midst of a newly experienced very old custom that
she then had placed into a mezuzah case,” said Bayla, who
took place at Julie Ohana’s January 2009 wedding reception
was married at the Adoba Hotel in Dearborn. Her aunt
at the Birmingham Community House, came an unexpect-
passed away before her July 2013 wedding, but her uncle
ed gift from her new husband, Ofer.
continued the tradition. “We picked the color for the mezu-
In the first minutes of her marriage, Julie became the
zah because my aunt always wore black, grey and red. Every
focal point of a unique ceremony she had never seen before, time I look at it, I think of my aunt. My husband never got a
where mud-like red henna dye is placed on the palms of
chance to meet her, but he feels like he knows her through
the bride and groom to symbolically bestow to them good
the mezuzah.
continued on page 34
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celebrate! • 2017
jn
BRETT MOUNTAIN
To The Bride
And Groom!