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With
something like 50 percent of American Jews marrying outside of the faith,
finding someone to perform the wedding ceremony has become one of the
hardest parts of planning a wedding.
“I
try to tailor the ceremony so that I cover all the bases, but don’t step
on any toes,” said Cantor David Niles, a local officiant. “I try to
respect the wishes of both the Jewish and non-Jewish partner.”
Niles
is one of the few wedding officiants in Arizona who will perform
interfaith weddings as well as co-officiated ceremonies. A genuine cantor
who conducts services regularly at Temple Beth Emeth of Scottsdale, he has
been doing weddings in the Valley for 17 years.
“There
is a network of people around the Valley who will do interfaith
weddings,” he said. “Sometimes each side will want their own side
represented, and I’ll end up doing the ceremony with a Baptist minister
or a Lutheran minister.”
Niles meets with couples
beforehand to go over the ceremony, explain the various rituals that are
components of traditional religious ceremonies and to find out what the
couples want. For the non-Jewish partner he’ll often incorporate some
scriptural readings into the ceremony, though he admits the Jewish
ceremony tends to have many more traditions than other religions.
“For the Jewish part of
the wedding we can do a chuppah (wedding canopy), the ketubah,
and I can chant the seven wedding blessings,” he explained. “Of
course, even if they don’t do all the other things they want to break
the glass.”
The cantor has also
done weddings where both parties are Jewish, but for whatever reason they
want a simple, non-denominational wedding with “a Jewish flavor.” As
for locations, Niles said people have interfaith wedding in typical places
like resorts, backyards and even parks. He has recently begun doing
interfaith baby naming ceremonies as well. |
