Lubav Couple to Make History

By COLlive reporter

History will be made in a month’s time when a Lubavitch bochur and girl will stand under a chuppah and wed at the Meoras Hamachpela in the holy Israeli city of Hebron.

The wedding of Menachem Mendel Frankel and Chaya Mushka Kerelstein on Tammuz 12, 5770, will takeplace near the tomb of the forefathers and mothers of the Jewish nation.

According to the invitations, the chuppah, meal and dancing will all take place in the courtyard of the tomb which is shared by Jews and Arabs year-round.

Hebron’s local Chabad Shliach Danny Cohen welcomed the original idea and called on others to hold weddings and Bar Mitzvas there as well.

“Often we are told by our Rabbis to minimize the high costs of weddings, and organizing simches in Hebron can certainly be cost effective,” the English-speaking Cohen said.

He added that “it will also give the guests a once-in-a-lifetime experience and will strengthen the Jewish settlement” in the city.

But economic calculations or a spectacular venue is not what led Frankel of Beit Shemesh and Kerelstein of Rechovot to choose Hebron as the location for their wedding.

COLlive has learned that the kallah’s grandparents are renowned Chassidic artist Baruch Nachshon and his wife Sarah, pioneers of the Jewish settlement in Hebron.

“The couple’s decision was not a difficult one,” a family member noted.