Monday, February 09, 2009

Another feather in the fur cap of Satmar

According to the New York Times (who, obviously, are lying) a Satmar is among the top 25 wedding officiants in New York City.

"Asked how many ceremonies he performs in a year, Rabbi Bela Gluck of the Central Rabbinical Congress of the United States and Canada, responded, “I would say approximately 300.” Rabbi Gluck, 56, like the couples he marries, is a member of the Satmar Hasidim, and the brief private ceremonies he performs are done so at the Congress’s offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn."
I'm not Satmar, but does it strike anyone else as strange that so many Hasidim are being married in "brief private ceremonies" conducted at CRC headquarters?

Moreover, the list "compiled by the City Clerk’s office from marriage licenses signed between January 2000 and last August" includes only secular weddings. The marriages where Rabbi Gluck officiates do not appear to be "kiddushin". No wine, no broken glass, no brochos. Just a signed marriage license.

So what's the back story?





Buy my book. (please)
Buy the other guy's book. (please)
Buy my wife a gift (please)

No comments: