The Wedding of Marina Leykina and Alex Braverman

Photos and article by Glatt & Art Photography, Brooklyn, NY.

The November 6th wedding of Marina and Alex at the Jewish Center of Manhattan Beach may have seemed like an ordinary Orthodox wedding, but in truth was anything but that.

The two met in February of this year at a Shabbaton for Russian speaking Jews, an annual event jointly organized by Chamah Organization, Lubavitch Youth Organization, and Bris Avrohom. The 2011 Shabbaton, which attracted 700 people at various stages of observance, was an inspiring event permeated with warmth and emotion. Numerous guest lecturers from around the country shared their Divrei Torah and Chizuk; many of the attendants were moved to tears. A special performance by Avrohom Fried electrified the audience.

A few years prior, Marina, who lives in Staten Island, got involved with a local Jewish-Russian Learning Center, run by Rabbi Eli Kogan, while Alex, who resides in New Jersey, traveled to Israel to study in the Mayanot Yeshiva in Jerusalem and later attended Bris Avrohom. Judaism was continuously playing a more central role in their lives. It was at the Chamah Shabbaton that their indivdual paths crossed and since then became permanently intertwined.

Venue: Manhattan Beach Jewish Center
Catering: New York Kosher Caterers
Photography: Glatt & Art
Music: Rambam Orchestra

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Moscow Hosts Historic Chabad Wedding

Last week Moscow saw its largest Jewish Orthodox wedding in history.

The wedding of Bluma Lazar, daughter of Rabbi Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia, and Isaac Rosenfeld, son of Rabbi Yehoshua Rosenfeld – a shliach in Bogota, Colombia’s capital was an event that was significant beyond the family circles of the new couple. A wedding of such distinctly orthodox nature – a sea of black hats and kapotas, Jewish music and dance, and even government provided security, in Russia’s capital, which, being outside the Pale of Settlement, was a place basically off-limits to Jews until a little over one hundred years ago, would be unimaginable even twenty years ago.

The wedding celebrations were attended by almost two thousand guests from around the world – Russian dignitaries and oligarchs, such as Acting Chairman of the Federation Council Alexander Torshin, big-name philanthropists like George Rohr, Lev Leviev and Eduardo Elstein, hundreds of Chabad shluchim, and many others. Masterfully orchestrated by Fleischman Productions, a Kfar Chabad based event planning company, the wedding chuppah and reception was held in the Sokolniki Convention center. Music entertainment was provided by Israeli musician Yishai Lapidot and a French musician Yoni Shlomo.

Thanks to Israel Bardugo – a photographer whose camera has captured a wide variety of themes and numerous events around the world, we can share with you visual highlights from this unique simchah.

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Saadya & Mushky | Brooklyn, NY

Shira Weinberger’s wedding photography portfolio is quite diverse. She has photographed couples of many ethnic backgrounds and wedding ceremonies and receptions of all sorts of styles. She also has traveled far and wide to turn her clients’ wedding day moments into images – images that all share one thing: Shira’s ability to convey not just the happening of the moment but also the mood, the feeling, the emotion. Shira shared with us some of her images from a recent wedding that was closer to home, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn NY, and as you can see for yourself these images are full of soul.

The dancing at Saadya and Mushky’s seems to have had a lot of flips and tabletop dancing – a leibebidig atmosphere.

Ordinarily, I would now tell you something about the chosson and the kallah and their wedding day, but instead I’ll share with you Shira’s words and her impressions from the wedding shoot:

On the day of Mushky and Saadya’s wedding, I awoke with a smile on my face. Three years ago, I shot Mimi’s (Saadya’s sister) wedding, so I was already familiar with a large part of the family and was very anxious to see everyone again. I had also met Saadya three months before at Shloimy and Marcy’s wedding (again a referral thanks to Mimi).

Saadya travels all over the world as a Chabad Rabbi to places far afield like Cambodia and Nepal. On the wedding day, he had just returned from Israel, where he was taking part in Taglit (Birthright), a program that sponsors trips for young Jewish people from all over to visit Israel. He was so enthusiastic about Israel and I felt great joy to see how much love he holds towards my people and country. It was also so much fun to talk to him in Hebrew (I was so impressed by his fluent Hebrew.) Saadya is one of the rabbis of the Chabad-Lubavitch community, and as such, the wedding took place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the official headquarters of the Chabad movement worldwide.

I heard a Rabbi once half-jokingly declare that one should never marry for love. Of course, we all marry for love, but what he meant was that we should not marry for the type of love or infatuation that is at its height at the wedding day. We should marry instead for the type of love that will build over the years, and so on the wedding day, it will be in fact at its starting point. I was reminded of this because Saadya met Mushy only three months before the wedding, after Mushky’s roommate introduced them . Of course, their love for each-other was clear and abiding, but at the same time I could see that it will be a love that will deepen with each passing day as they build their lives and families together. It is that innocence and purity that I found undeniably inspiring- that need to capture not only what lay before my lens, but also a hint of the depths that will be.

To see more of Shira Weinbereger’s photographs, do check out her blog.

Wedding Details:

Venue: Razag Ballroom
Flowers: Mimulo
Music: Nagila Orchestra with Eli Marcus.
Make Up: Susan Horowitz
Hair: Daniela Chayo
Dress: Custom made in Italy
Shoes: Stuart Weitzman
Groom’s Attire: AM Bespoke