A single moment can make all the difference between chometz and matzah, between success and failure. They raced the clock — and beat it!
One particular event stands out in my memory. It was a beautiful Jewish wedding that took place in the sprawling Cleveland Hotel and Conference Center. The bride was from a lovely, long-established Cleveland family, and the groom was from an equally prestigious family from Chicago, Illinois.
The law in Ohio (I believe it’s the same in other states as well) is that once food has been brought into a facility, if it isn’t served, it needs to be discarded. All uneaten food goes directly into the dumpster.
If a wedding is running (somewhat) on time, the main course is served promptly, and all’s well with the world. If not, well, family and friends have come to spend the evening with you, and if the main course doesn’t emerge on time, guests will simply leave without eating. (Sometimes the caterer is kind enough to wrap their meal so they can take it home….)
One of the first questions I used to ask my clients when planning a wedding was “Who is the mesader kiddushin, the officiating rabbi?” And if the officiating rabbi was from out of town, my next question was always, “And who is plan B?” As out-of-town guests are always at the mercy of air-traffic and weather conditions, I’d learned that a backup plan for the mesader kiddushin was an absolute necessity.
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