“If you live in southern Israel and were supposed to get married this evening, we are going to be at the “Telya” wedding hall (at Kibbutz Yitzhak, near Even Yehuda), and we invite you to move your wedding to our place tonight.”
The above invitation was written by Moran and Yaniv at the initiation and encouragement of Eitan Sapir, owner of Telya, who says he woke up Tuesday morning to the news of rocket fire in the south and the Red Alert warnings even in Tel Aviv, and realized there would likely be cancellations of weddings by nightfall.
“And that’s not okay,” Sapir said in a telephone interview with JewishPress.com. So I spoke with Moran and Yaniv — they are a wonderful couple, generous, sensitive, very special — and we talked about how we could help those who are facing the terror even on their happiest day.”
Together, the couple and Sapir decided to extend an offer to double the celebration planned for their night, writing on social media, “We are prepared to host an additional wedding and to celebrate with everyone together with the brotherhood and love that has always existed among us in the nation of Israel.
“Come with your rabbi and your guests, and we will make two weddings together!” they wrote. “We will show the world we are always strong and united!” A contact number was provided, and a list of those who call was to be reviewed by Moran, Yaniv and Sapir to determine which family best fits together with the hosting couple.
Sapir told JewishPress.com that the Telya wedding hall is covering the entire cost of the additional wedding celebration, and the invited couple is welcome to bring between a total of 200 to 300 people to the event.
He could not be persuaded, however, to reveal what that cost might be, however, although he admitted it was pretty steep. “It doesn’t matter,” he insisted. “It’s not relevant. It is the mitzvah that counts. These circumstances are atrocious. Thank God at least we can do this much.”