On Oct. 7, Israel endured the worst attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. That day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the nation to be at war against Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of reservists were called up to active duty.
Some went into battle immediately against the Hamas terrorists still holding out on Israeli soil near Gaza. It was where they had ravaged kibbutzim and brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis and foreigners—most of them unarmed civilians—and kidnapped more than 200.
The nation reeled. Everyone seemed to know someone among the victims or hostages. Everyone knew soldiers who had been called up.
Amid this chaos, with hundreds of funerals in the offing, one young couple had a difficult choice to make.
The wedding of Aaron Greene and Tamar Fest was planned for two days later, on Oct. 9. And, as a reservist, the groom had been called up to serve in Israel’s military six days later.
They wondered if they should postpone or move forward with the celebration, considering the profound grief all around them.
A Chance to ‘Bring Some Light’
It wasn’t an easy decision, the newlyweds told The Epoch Times in a telephone conversation a few days later.
“On the one hand, it’s according to Judaism,” the 21-year-old bride explained. “You’re not really supposed to delay a wedding. You’re not supposed to push it off.
“We spoke to a rabbi, and he said exactly that—that you’re not supposed to delay it. That you should go forward with it.
“But on the other hand, how are we supposed to celebrate when everyone you know—our friends—are being murdered? And other friends are fighting for our country. I have a friend ... ”
Her voice trailed off.
“ ... Who was kidnapped,” her 23-year-old husband said, helping to finish the sentence too awful for his young wife to say aloud.
“And all my good friends,” he continued, “I was to have 30, 40, 50 friends at my wedding. And they were all called up by the army. So, not one of my friends—none whatsoever—would be able to make it.”
“Saturday morning, Aaron and I weren’t seeing each other,” Mrs. Greene said. “It’s customary for the bride and groom not to see each other the week before.
“And when we sort of realized what was going on ... we just had to decide to do it then—to not wait—because we have no idea what would happen over the next few days when we were supposed to have our wedding.
The Scramble to Celebrate
After the Hamas attacks, Mr. Greene—a reservist and paratrooper—was told to report for duty. Officials gave him until the following Sunday, because of the wedding.He had moved to Jerusalem from Atlanta with his family when he was 17. Three years ago, Mrs. Greene and her family moved there from Sydney. Now, for both of them, it’s home.
Even as the couple decided to proceed with their plans, the vendors that they'd booked for the wedding began to cancel. The venue. The caterer. The band.
So, to plan a party in two days, they had to scramble.
“Honestly, Tamar’s family was fantastic,” Mr. Greene said.
“Right away, her sister and her brother-in-law decided they would take it upon themselves to cater everything.”
His future in-laws helped him to arrange to go to a mikvah—a bathing facility in contact with a natural source of water—for a Jewish pre-wedding tradition, a ritual bath for purification.
“Everyone had a specific role,” he said. “Everyone took it upon themselves to help out.”
Within 12 hours, almost miraculously, a new plan was in place.
Dancing With Strangers
The event was supposed to have happened in a big venue, she said.Instead, it was an intimate affair of about 50 people on a rooftop belonging to a neighbor in Mr. Greene’s parents’ apartment building.
But “we danced with hundreds of strangers,” Mrs. Greene said.
“People just heard the music, and they came, and they wanted to be supportive, and to help out,” Mr. Greene said. “It’s one big family.”
Throughout the ordeal, they noticed a unique spirit in the nation, they said.
They felt fortunate that they'd already obtained an apartment to move into together after the wedding in West Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood, south of the Old City, near Mrs. Greene’s parents.
But after the wedding, they needed to go shopping to furnish their new home and supply the kitchen.
“People are good, resilient, generous, supportive,” Mr. Greene said. “It’s absolutely amazing what’s going on in Israel right now. There’s all this sadness.”
Yet, at the supermarkets, they see children asking people to donate goods, such as toiletries and electronics, to fill boxes being sent to reservists who need supplies.
“To raise their morale,” Mrs. Greene said.
People are supporting each other, sometimes total strangers, she said, and “everyone asks if you’re OK.”
Mr. Greene reported to duty with the Israel Defense Forces as planned. On Oct. 25, he sent a text message to The Epoch Times, saying that he was on duty and that he and his bride were doing well.
Do they hope to hold a larger wedding celebration when circumstances permit?
“We’re still not sure what the future holds,” Mrs. Greene said.
“When all this clears up, we'd love to get to celebrate with our family and friends who weren’t able to make it there, and all of our friends who were called up.
“So, hopefully.”
