November 30, 2015

Photos and videos of newlyweds Sarah-Tehiya Litman and Ariel Beigel celebrating their wedding in Jerusalem continue to move the world to tears. Litman’s father and brother were murdered in a November 13 terrorist shooting attack — just three days before the planned nuptials.

Litman and Beigel had to postpone their November 16 wedding so that Litman could sit shiva for her father, Yaakov, and her 18-year-old brother, Netanel.

Pictures of Rabbi Yaakov Litman and Netanel Litman, the bride's father and brother, were displayed with memorial candles at her wedding to Ariel Beigel. Photo by Hadas Parush/FLASH90
Pictures of Rabbi Yaakov Litman and Netanel Litman, the bride’s father and brother, were displayed with memorial candles at her wedding to Ariel Beigel. Photo by Hadas Parush/FLASH90

When they announced the new November 26 date for their celebration, they said they hoped “multitudes will come to make us happy.”

And that’s exactly what happened.

The bride surrounded by well-wishers at the wedding reception. Photo by Mendy Hechtman/FLASH90
The bride surrounded by well-wishers at the wedding reception. Photo by Mendy Hechtman/FLASH90

Sara Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, came to say mazal tov. So did hundreds of other well-wishers who had seen the couple’s open invitation on social media that included the verse from the Prophet Micah: “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, for I have fallen but I have gotten up.”

Sara Netanyahu greeting Sarah Litman at her wedding in the Jerusalem International Convention Center. Photo by Hadas Parush/FLASH90
Sara Netanyahu greeting Sarah Litman at her wedding in the Jerusalem International Convention Center. Photo by Hadas Parush/FLASH90

Jewish communities from Australia to Canada, and Chabad Houses from across the globe, sent representatives to the open wedding.

Groom Ariel Beigel, center, celebrating with thousands of guests at his Jerusalem wedding to Sarah Litman on November 26, 2015. Photo by Mendy Hechtman/FLASH90
Groom Ariel Beigel, center, celebrating with thousands of guests at his Jerusalem wedding to Sarah Litman on November 26, 2015. Photo by Mendy Hechtman/FLASH90

“We join in the deep resolve of this couple that terror not define our lives, and that goodness and kindness and joy fight the wave of darkness and despair that seems so overwhelming,” said Rabbi Aaron Slonim, executive director of the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

The wedding took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ofG5Qhmx8

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