Rabbi Amy Josefa Ariel

relationship instead of giving us cookie cutter counseling. On top of that, she spent hours working with us to design a ceremony that was completely unique to the two of us and meaningful in every aspect of the ceremony. My groom is not Jewish and I (the bride) am Jewish, so we wanted to create a ceremony that had all of the meaning of a Jewish ceremony without the Hebrew and overt traditions that made my groom uncomfortable. On top of that, Amy took Jewish traditions and morphed them into meaningful elements for us; for instance, we don’t say the kiddish together on Friday nights, but we always make a challah and say Motzi. So instead of a Kiddish, Amy suggested having a close family friend or relative make us a challah that we blessed and passed around during the ceremony instead - genius! She was also instrumental in our chuppah being meaningful to us (built by both of our parents instead of rented) and incorporated quotes and sayings throughout the ceremony from our favorite books that we read together (another special tradition of ours). We are so very, very glad that she could be our premarital counselor and officiant!