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Forum -> Relationships -> Simcha Section
Why are wedding invitations in Hebrew



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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Nov 12 2019, 4:23 pm
If you live outside of Israel why is there a Hebrew side to most Frum wedding invitations? Serious question here.
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amother
Bronze


 

Post Tue, Nov 12 2019, 5:01 pm
lashon hakodesh
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 12 2019, 5:07 pm
To look frum. It’s a traditional style. My grandparents’ invitation from over 100 years ago looks totally contemporary.

Lots of people have family in EY, for one thing, and for another, not everyone has an invitation in Hebrew. Some people put in only the chosson’s and kallah’s given names—in case anyone should want to have them engraved or embroidered on a gift, mistameh—and some people do have all-English invitations. These are in the minority, though, probably because everyone fears that if they don’t have the Hebrew people will think they’re not frum enough.

Does anyone read the Hebrew? I suspect that most do not. My relatives, being language nuts, do. We always try to figure out the location names from the Hebrew side first. There is no standardization —some spell it NOO Dzerzee, some NYOO G’erzii, and the names of halls? Forget it! Not the ones named Ateres Bais Zichron Fruma Yachna, obviously, but the ones named Mon Nouveau Chapeau Chateau and Country Club, 131 Eleanor Roosevelt Boulevard West, Coxsackie, NY. Laugh Laugh LOL
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essie14




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 12 2019, 10:45 pm
I live in Israel and I've seen all English invitations:)
Nowadays with evites you can have multiple invitations for no extra money. So you can send an English invitation to English speakers and Hebrew one to Hebrew speakers.
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amother
White


 

Post Tue, Nov 12 2019, 10:49 pm
One of the reasons Bnei Yisrael were saved from Egypt is because they didn't change their language. We've got to stick to Hebrew, especially at important life changes. It's a symbol of who we are and that we will always be that way.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 12 2019, 11:03 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
If you live outside of Israel why is there a Hebrew side to most Frum wedding invitations? Serious question here.

Perhaps there are a substantial number of invitees from Israel, and it's simpler/cheaper to create a single invitation (as opposed to separate Hebrew/non-Hebrew versions that you will send in a targeted fashion to invitees based on language preference).
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Tue, Nov 12 2019, 11:03 pm
We're Jews, and Jews use Hebrew. If you happen to speak another language, feel free to use it, but would you really want to mark a momentous occasion in your life without religion?
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amother
Rose


 

Post Wed, Nov 13 2019, 12:20 am

Also, Hebrew has much more depth and multiple facets of meaning.

See for example the first letter of each paragraph of the standard Chabad wedding text, above...
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singleagain




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 13 2019, 12:48 am
amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:
We're Jews, and Jews use Hebrew. If you happen to speak another language, feel free to use it, but would you really want to mark a momentous occasion in your life without religion?


Not all Jews speak Hebrew today. I don't even believe it's currently the cultural language. How many schools really focus on Hebrew langue? I may have taken 12 years of ivrit, but most of my Hebrew understanding, is bc my mother happens to be fluent and I listen to her talk on the phone trying to piece together what she said.

And the invitation doesn't mark religion. It's information telling you where this occasion that I'm including religion in is taking place... And if I say kabbalt panim at this time and chupa at this time... That's what clues you into my religion.

amother [ Rose ] wrote:

Also, Hebrew has much more depth and multiple facets of meaning.

See for example the first letter of each paragraph of the standard Chabad wedding text, above...


Again... Not everyone can speak/understand surely not everyone can read.

And many languages have deeper/secondary meanings in words.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 13 2019, 4:03 am
ITA with singleagain and disagree with fuchsia. The invite is not a religious document but a social one. It’s just a way of announcing an event—a very fancy party invitation, nothing more. And people who try to make it a religious document by filling it with pesukim from Tanach are just creating a problem of proper disposal thereof.

Even the ketubah—which is itself nothing more than a religiously-mandated legal contract— is in Aramaic, not Hebrew (Hebrew ketubot are perfectly halachic and can be bought but they’re a specialty item few people realize is an option) because Aramaic was the language spoken at the time that the ketubah was developed. Aramaic was not a holy language but it was used because people understood it. By the same token, the ketubah really ought to be written in the native language of the celebrants. If you don’t understand Aramaic you are entering a contract that you don’t understand, which is pretty crazy.

Your kiddushin and your Sheva brochos are all in Hebrew, as are the benching after the celebratory meal, and the entire wedding ceremony is clearly Jewish. Nobody will think the wedding is anything other than Jewish if the invitation is not in Hebrew.
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Wed, Nov 13 2019, 4:17 am
The invitation is not just functional, it's aspirational. Jews should communicate in Hebrew. It's a shame that historical circumstances have prevented that, but we aspire to be a holy nation, speaking the language which Hashem used to create the world and to communicate with humanity.
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Raisin




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 13 2019, 5:33 am
Hebrew is definitely the cultural language of Jews. A jew from Argentina and a Jew from France can communicate happily in hebrew.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 13 2019, 6:51 am
Unless they know yiddish, or ladino (or both like my grandmother did before alia)
[or judeo italian, judeo arabic, judeo malayalam look that up)
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Rappel




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 13 2019, 6:57 am
Ruchel wrote:
Unless they know yiddish, or ladino (or both like my grandmother did before alia)
[or judeo italian, judeo arabic, judeo malayalam look that up)


I just did. Very cool! I never knew!
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