In an emotional ceremony on Sunday evening, a haredi couple held their wedding ceremony in a courtyard outside the coronavirus department of Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem – in order to enable the bridegroom’s father to participate.
The father of the groom has been hospitalized in Hadassah’s coronavirus ward since the end of September and is still in serious condition, with significant breathing difficulties. Therefore, the family, who are Gerrer hassidim, turned to the Yad Avraham organization, which often acts as a mediator between hospital authorities and families, with a special request – arrange for the young couple to be married under the father’s hospital window.
Shimon Braun and his son Hezki, who head Yad Avraham, accordingly turned to hospital authorities, who immediately expressed their willingness to do what they could, despite the challenges inherent in the endeavor. Noa Regans, head nurse in Coronavirus ward 5C, related: “This request, from a family from Arad, touched all our hearts. All they wanted was for their father, a 56-year-old coronavirus patient, to be able to participate in some way in this highly emotional event.”
She noted that, “The family were told that according to the government’s guidelines, there would be a restriction on the number of people allowed to be present, and that they would have to wear facemasks – and they immediately accepted these stipulations and adhered to them throughout the entire ceremony."
“Yad Avraham and our staff worked hard to enable the wedding to happen,” she added, “and this afternoon, we all cried when the bridegroom waved to his father with such emotion from the courtyard below. The father was watching from his hospital bed with hospital staff at his side, as well as volunteers from Yad Avraham. He could hear all the wedding blessings and there wasn’t a dry eye when the family all called out their blessings and wishes for his recovery over the microphone.”
Professor Zeev Rothstein, the hospital’s director, said: “Only in Hadassah could such an emotional event take place. We made it possible for the father of the family to watch and even participate in the wedding of his son, even though he is seriously ill, and this was an event that no one will forget, an exceptional example of the dedication of Hadassah’s staff.”