The forged wedding blessing
The forged wedding blessingCourtesy

In "honor" of today's homosexhibitionist gay parade in the Holy City of Jerusalem, condemned by rabbis throughout the country as an unnecessary and immoral provocation, Arutz Sheva was sent photographs showing that several years ago ritual wedding blessings were rewritten in the USA under the guise of "Orthodox" Judaism for homosexual weddings.

A booklet of blessings, published in at least two editions since 2014, appears at first glance to be traditionally Orthodox and accurate in at least most of its prayers. However, a closer look shows that it features some glaring "errors" - changes - in the section of wedding blessings, recited ceremoniously under the wedding canopy, at the wedding feast, and at subsequent wedding meals over the next several days.

The fifth of the seven blessings traditionally concludes with the words, "Blessed are You, G-d, Who gladdens groom and bride." Similarly, the 6th blessing reads, "Who created gladness and joy, groom and bride… Let there speedily be heard, the Lord our G-d, in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of gladness and joy, the voice of groom and bride…" The wording is based on verses in the prophecies of Jeremiah and were redacted into official halakhic blessings by the Men of the Great Assembly some 2,500 years ago.

The "latest" version, however, offers wedding celebrants a choice: They may say "groom and bride," if they wish, but they may also say, "bride and bride," "groom and groom," and even "lover and lover" – for those who wish to recite "wedding" blessings without going through a wedding ceremony.

It is interesting to note that the wedding blessings that appear on at least two interfaith websites retain the "groom and bride" wording, even as they remove or change almost everything else having to do with traditional Judaism. The new "Orthodox" booklet thus may be the first to allow the change from "groom and bride" to "groom and groom" and other choices.

Serious halakhic problems with the "new" wording include the Biblical prohibition of reciting G-d's name in vain, the Rabbinic prohibition of changing a blessing, and negating the Biblical prohibition against homosexual relations.

Gay pride parades in Israel and around the world generally do not limit themselves to dignified calls for equal rights, but include also exhibitionist men and women in various states of undress. "What may be acceptable in Scandinavia or Amsterdam has no place in the Holy Land," both Jewish and Muslim leaders have said.