Mazel Tov!

But first, a word from our sponsor...or lack thereof. Due to our many sins there was a major snow storm last night. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but because some cruel, heartless soul decided to put a lock on their wifi the party is now over and night long dreams have gone to bed. What I mean to say is that my sole source of internet is now the wild outdoors that are Morristown, and those wild outdoors are currently filled with the fluff of the gods. Meaning this post, written with love for sunday night, is only being posted Monday. Oh well. Now back to our scheduled programming...

That's right, TRS attends a wedding tonight, and guess who was playing flute? But more on that later. First of all... a friend came over to me as I was in the middle of struggling over the laws of rats in drinks (not to mention kids falling into mead and drowning) and said, "You want to come to a wedding?" I'm always happy to be mesameach a chosson and kallah (and to avoid siman 104) so I of course agreed. Two minutes later, after quickly changing my blue pants for black, I was off for Old Tappan in a limo. Quite the excursion I'm sure you'll agree. Once we arrived in the garden of bliss that is this corner of New Jersey I beheld the flutist of my dreams: Yehuda Piamenta. But first! The chosson tish. A friend of mine lent me his dvar malchus for a quick spot of rambam, which kept me occupied while the assembled throngs prayed the mincha service. This was soon followed by the signing of the positively ginormous kesubah by the witness protection programmers, and then the kallah came in to be bedecked in her veil.

You wonder, no doubt, why TRS was at the wedding. Well, it was a pretty classic case of boy meets girl/fall in love/marry/she converts to Judaism/he becomes frum/they get married again according to the laws and customs of Moses and Israel. Which is where I and my friends come into the story.

At some point in the evening I went over to Mr. Piamenta, who was there with Chony Milecky (did I spell that right?) and introduced myself. Mr. Mikecky remembered my sister's wedding which was what, four years ago?, and also that the hall it was in, while gorgeous to the extreme, was also not ideal for musical expression. Something about brick and glass. My alcohol-flavored memories are of only good things to do with music (thank you shmuelie Friedman for singing!) so I think he managed.

The real story though was with Yehuda, who I complimented most nicely on his excellent playing Motzei shabbos, and mentioned that I had blogged extensively on the subject. He was quite excited at this notion, and made sure to copy down the address of this here humble little blog for perusal, and exclaimed numerous times, "You wrote about me!?" Yes folks, not only does he play like nobody's business, and knows all the words to his father/uncle's songs (no easy task) but he's also a delightfully unassuming and unpretentious guy. Do I sound impressed? That's because I am.

So anyway, the chupah was held outside, under the stars, with a hilarious reading of the kesubah by Rabbi Shain of Tenafly. Seriously, he was pretty funny. Can't think of any specific jokes off the bat. Sorry.

Once the marriage was all official we headed in for the first course, roasted salmon and a nice salad inflected mandarin oranges and craisins. Does that even make sense? A brief phone call (25 minutes is brief, no?) prevented me from being inside when the music started, but I soon got in there and participated in one of the biggest mitzvos available to mankind. A tiring one at that.

The main course was a satmar steak (quite delicious), David elliot chicken with stuffing, roasted veggies, and mashed potatoes in fancy array. Did I mention the open bar? Back in the day I might have availed myself of large amounts of fiery spirits, but at this point in my life
all I really ask for is coca-cola classic, which they were happy to provide.

The chosson made a toast with his wife to everyone, and it was really nice. He got really emotional, and couldn't speak so well, but what he said really touched me. You could tell that this day was the most important of his life.

More dancing after the meal, and this was when Yehuda really shined, singing the hits with joyous abandon. You know why he's so good? Because he really gets into it. He's moving around with abandon, smiling with a billion watts, really enjoying himself. Which is nice to see. Makes everyone else happy too.

And afterwords? The present bochurim did the Sheva brochos (yours truly too) and danced a bit after. I didn't eat any of the dessert (apple tort type creation) because I wasn't too hungry, though I regret that now. Oh well, such is life.
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Oh, and I'm sure you're all wondering what this post is doing here now. After all, I had this whole thing about it only being posted on Monday. Well, after I finished writing it felt like a pity to save until tomorrow, so I decided to have major mesiras nefesh and post it
in the heart of the storm. I hope you appreciate it. I mean, I look ridiculous, standing under a forest with a large target bag over my head and the rest of my body covered in snow.