Every wedding has its unexpected drama. What happened at this wedding was totally unpredictable.
In 2000 we were invited to my cousin Julian’s daughter Marlo’s wedding in New York State. Angie and I drove down to New York City and stayed in mid-town Manhattan. The wedding was on May 28, at Il Sorriso in Irvington NY about 30 minutes north of the city.
The wedding was in a beautiful restaurant over-looking the Hudson River. It was a warm, sunny spring day and we were excited to be among family. Julian is my father’s brother’s son. Julian and his mum and dad moved to NYC in late 1940’s and I saw Julian very infrequently, in fact, before I came to Canada I only saw him when he came to London.
So here we were all gathered together in the garden of Il Sorriso. Family came from all over to celebrate the wedding of Marlo to Jeffrey Crume.
Jeff’s family are Lutheran and in order to accommodate everyone’s wishes the Crume family pastor was in attendance along with the Ross family’s Rabbi Heller. A 
chupah had been created using the restaurant awning and the families from all over the world gathered to witness the joining of two souls in true Jewish tradition.
Julian’s family from his mother’s side were in from England and I was there with Angie “representing” his father’s side.
Rabbi Jerry Heller started the ceremony and as is quite often the case with rabbis added the warmth and humour that the occasion required. Most rabbis are wanna-be stand-up comics and this rabbi was no exception. The Lutheran pastor stood patiently by. At the appropriate times the pastor would step forward and participate and then step back out of the limelight allowing the rabbi to perform.
The wedding ceremony was over, the cup was broken and the necessary documents were signed, sealed and witnessed by both pastor and rabbi.
We went into the restaurant for lunch and speeches. The speeches were wonderful, the food was great and Angie and I danced our feet off.
That’s as much of the day as I can remember.
About 6 months later I phoned Julian and immediately asked how the newlyweds were doing.
“Oh, didn’t you hear?”, he said. I gulped nervously. “Hear what?”, I answered. Julian continued, “It turns out that the rabbi was not a rabbi and wasn’t ordained to do marriages. He was arrested and it was discovered that he had been performing marriages illegally up and down the Eastern seaboard. Dozens of marriages are null and void. People are having to get remarried. It’s a real mess, except for Marlo and Jeff. Because the Lutheran pastor was an official at the wedding, their wedding is legal.”
Moral: If the Jews are the Chosen people, then surely the Lutherans are the Saviours.
