“Rabbi Charazi, you don’t know me, but I need your help,” said the caller, her voice trembling. “My son is getting married tonight, and his entire IDF unit—his closest friends—has just been called up to Gaza following the terrible attack where five soldiers were killed. These friends were supposed to dance our son to the chupah (marriage canopy) and liven up the celebration. Now, there’s no one. Could you and your Boys Town Jerusalem students please come help us celebrate? It would mean the world to the bride and groom.”
Within moments, BTJ High School Principal Rabbi Charazi began phoning students—now on summer break—with the urgent request. That night, around 25 boys joined the rabbi at the wedding of total strangers, dancing, singing, and livening up the simchah (joyous event) for hours. Everyone there—from the bride and groom to the wedding hall owner—declared it the most joyful wedding they’d seen.
“After Rabbi Charazi called, I canceled my night job to come dance at the wedding,” said 11th grader Orel Vaknin. “By the end, we felt like part of the family. The groom couldn’t stop thanking us.”
Yet in today’s Israel, even a story of strangers coming together for joy carries the strain of loss. “The next morning, I took these students to pay a shiva (condolence) call to the family of our graduate Noam Masgadian, one of the five soldiers who fell in Gaza earlier this week,” said Rabbi Charazi. “We shared that we’d dedicated our help for the bride and groom in Noam’s memory. Later that morning, the newlyweds called to say they had prayed at the Western Wall for Noam’s soul to be blessed. The Jewish people stand united—in death and life, in sorrow and joy.”