Rabbi Sanford Olshansky

g it difficult for us to find a Rabbi that would marry us. However, from the moment we met him Rabbi Olshasnky made us realize that what mattered most was that we loved each other and that he allowed us the opportunity to share our heritage and religion in a way that worked best for us. I’ve been to many weddings in my time and never once have I heard the bride or groom get complemented on their officiant. That was much different with ours. We had so many people come up to us and say how much they loved hearing from him, appreciated the translations, and they really raved about his reading of our personal vows. They attributed our beautiful and memorable ceremony to him and for that I will be forever grateful. Thank you Rabbi Olshanksy for being such a warm light guiding us through our new journey into marriage – we appreciate you so much!

e big day. Could not recommend him enough!! 10/10! Thanks Sandy!! We loved the entire experience.

t each other. He learned about us as a couple and as individuals. He took his time to sincerely get to know us, guide us, and counsel us. We also learned a lot about him, his career, interests, and hobbies. We even had the pleasure of having his wife at our wedding. The point being that Rabbi O was no longer a stranger to us by the day of our wedding. It felt like we had known him for years. Regarding our ceremony, we did have an interfaith wedding. My husband is Jewish and I was raised Catholic. Rabbi O gives you the option to include more than one religion in his reading but we both wanted a completely Jewish wedding. We learned only a few days before we were supposed to get married that Hurricane Dorian was forecasted to hit Florida the night or morning after our wedding. Rabbi O gave us amazing advice and helped us feel at ease with our decision to move our wedding up a day on short notice, and he was also very flexible in accommodating our new date. Because of the hurricane, a lot of our guests couldn't make it (my husband’s entire out-of-town family!) So yes, we had a Jewish wedding ceremony with an audience full of Hispanic Catholics. Nevertheless, Rabbi O rocked!!! We did not make any changes to accommodate our new audience’s religious makeup–– we kept everything the same and we got soooo many compliments! Not only about it being the most beautiful ceremony but also about how great Rabbi O was about making it feel a lot more intimate. They loved how he explained the representation of everything we were doing, making it both educational and inclusive. At the end of the day we wouldn’t change a thing, and we’re so grateful that we had Rabbi O to help guide us through a hurricane and all the other huge curve balls that came our way. He really loves what he does, and we still keep in regular touch with him. We couldn't give him higher praise or recommendation, he’s the absolute best at what he does!

d personalize his service to us and our guests. He was very thorough and comprehensive in his traditions and honoring the Jewish rituals. He's one of the very few Rabbi willing and enthusiastic about performing interfaith marriages. We've very grateful to have him be a central part of our amazing wedding and highly recommend Rabbi Olshansky.

ects of your ceremony. More importantly, a good officiant also helps set the tone for the marriage, not just the ceremony. If you are considering Rabbi O as your officiant, you’re making a very very good choice. Rabbi O not only performed our ceremony perfectly, just as we wanted, but in our meetings with him leading up to the big day he really became a trusted friend and advisor, someone we plan on keeping in touch with for years to come. Rabbi O met with us on 3 separate occasions, each time making the effort to come to our location which is quite far from his home. At each meeting he really got to know us, and us him. He was thoughtful with his questions and his homework assignments. By our 3rd meeting it really felt like catching up with a friend, rather than an interview. He kindly attended our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, which was above the call of duty. He also included some very special and personal touches which made our ceremony truly wonderful. In short, Rabbi O was the perfect officiant for our interfaith wedding, and we highly recommend him.

fter our beautiful ceremony, we have received a ton of feedback on how amazing our ceremony was. One of us was raised conservadox and the other Methodist who has converted, so we were worried about the non-Jewish Families reception to a Jewish Ceremony. However, Rabbi Olshansky was able to open the ceremony in a way that comforted all that were present, and had the effect of having everyone feel equal and excited for our wedding, even though it was a traditional Jewish Ceremony. Rabbi Olshansky also ensures that we got all the tradition we wanted and didn’t do what we didn’t want. He offered us many different items we could use in the wedding and was able to answer all of our questions about the ceremony we were unsure of with insightful and honest answers. On top of Rabbi Olshansky’s wonderful ceremony, he is a person who we hope to remain close with due to his important role in our life, and we know that he also has the same goal of all couples he works with. You can be comfortable and confident in choosing this Rabbi, as he will help to ensure your special day is exactly what you hope for. Thank you so much Rabbi for making our day so special!!!

At our first meeting, talking with Rabbi O was super comfortable. He put both me and my new husband at ease, asking us questions about how we met, about our upbringings, all without judgement. We had three meetings total before getting married, but Rabbi O made himself available for any and every question we had throughout the whole process, from elements we wanted to include in the ceremony all the way through clarifying traditions having to do with rings and ketubot. I grew up in the conservative movement, but when I realized that a conservative Rabbi wouldn't marry me and my Christian fiance, I was sad. Rabbi O took all of that away. He made my dreams of having as traditional a Jewish wedding as we wanted come true!

ew we found “the one” with Rabbi O. From the very first moment we met Rabbi O all the way through the end of the big day, we felt like we were in great hands - he was incredibly kindhearted, accommodating, detail-oriented, patient, and knowledgeable. The ceremony itself was absolutely perfect. Not only was it personalized and heartfelt, it was respectful to both of our families. It was truly better than we could have imagined. We would wholeheartedly recommend Rabbi O to anyone seeking a Jewish wedding officiant, interfaith or not.

erstanding and respectful. He took the time to explain all of the aspects of a Jewish Ceremony. I felt very comfortable and we are so happy with our ceremony. He takes time in getting to know you as a couple so that he can incorporate it in the ceremony. He was very professional and responded quickly.

ns about us in his service that I didn't think he caught. My husband and I were so lucky to find Rabbi O.

a lot of research as he intertwines Jewish culture with how it relates to us as man and wife. I was also told nothing but the highest comments about his organization from my friends and other family, especially my more conservative Jewish relatives who told me their childrens' weddings did not hold a candle to how thorough and diligent Olshansky was in exemplifying Judaism. My wife and I would highly recommend this man for any Jewish or interfaith ceremonies. MAZEL TOV!!!!

nor my family's traditions, but we had a lot of anxiety around who exactly would marry us. We found Rabbi Olshansky on interfaithfamily.com and are so glad we did. His prep sessions were wonderful - he gave some great advice and guidance for conversations to have. It really felt like he took time to get to know each of us as people as well as in the context of our relationship - you definitely can't say that about all wedding officiants. Rabbi O was very organized and detailed, and we always knew exactly what to expect. Our wedding ceremony was absolutely beautiful. My Jewish family loved it, and we also received tons of compliments from our non-Jewish friends and family. We were told it was very accessible to everyone and still a wonderful, spiritual ceremony based in tradition. I would recommend Rabbi O to anyone, interfaith couple or not!

iciated. Before the wedding we had three meetings where he would ask us, questions, and give some fun and sometimes challenging "homework" assignments along with passing on many words of wisdom. My husband is not Jewish, and Rabbi Olshansky spent time to explain each step of the ceremony, the wording of everything, and the meaning behind it to make sure he understood each of the steps. In the end our meetings translated into an unforgettable interfaith ceremony, with many personal notes of things he picked up through our shared time together. We received several comments about how beautiful there ceremony was, and what a fantastic job he did.

h worked in a progressive fashion to get us ready for our big day. He took the time to get to know us individually, as a couple, as well as our family backgrounds and what is important to us. Rabbi O was supportive of our interfaith marriage and talked about how Judaism can play a role in different faiths from a spiritual perspective. He presented us with a great "gift" (don't want to give too much away:)) that is very meaningful to both of us and he will always hold a special spot in our hearts since he walked us through to our wedding day, and made it perfect and simple (and just how we wanted). My parents thought he was wonderful, spoke from the heart, and really captured the moment with his presence. We would definitely recommend Rabbi O and hope he remains a part of our life in the future as well.

my own family now. Thank you Rabbi Sandy for being such a special person and making our special day and months leading up to the wedding so memorable. You will always have special place in my heart and memories and also Orm's :)

o know us as a couple. He did a wonderful job of combining who we are into the ceremony and personalizing it. My husband isn't Jewish but it was important to me to have a totally Jewish ceremony. Rabbi O did a great job of making sure it was a fully Jewish ceremony without stepping on anyone in his family's feet. Our ceremony was perfect, personal and the right level of Jewish. I would definitely recommend Rabbi O!

always reachable if we had any questions. Rabbi Olshansky guided us seamlessly through every facet of our wedding process: from outlining the process, to encouraging us to get tested for potential genetic issues (which was a delicate, yet important topic to discuss!), to the selection of the Ketubah, and all the way through to the actual ceremony and celebration. If you’re looking for a “rent-a-Rabbi” or “Rabbi-in-the-box,” Rabbi Olshansky isn’t for you. Rabbi Olshansky won’t make your wedding a standard template, nor will he bog you down with details; instead, he’ll work with both the bride and groom to personalize the wedding, listen carefully to the religious and non-religious components that are important, and will genuinely beam of pride and happiness on the big day. The bottom line- Rabbi Olshansky is knowledgeable, flexible, dependable, genuinely excited, and determined to make the bride and groom comfortable leading up to and on their big day. We were so happy that Rabbi Olshansky was willing to work with us and fly all the way to Mexico to officiate our marriage.

sts during the ceremony. He helped us discuss topics with each other before marriage that we may not have thought of discussing. He was open to having the ceremony the way we wanted to do it and even helped make sure information and small details were accurate in our program. What my husband and I love the most about Rabbi O is that he has been there for us after the wedding was over. We reached out to him for advice about some things that were going on in our life. He took time out of his own schedule to meet with us. We don't get to see him as often as we'd like but it's comforting to know he will be there if we need him. I highly recommend Rabbi Olshansky to officiate your wedding. You won't be disappointed.

we could get to know each other. During this time, he also taught us about the meanings behind the traditions and customs. He was a great listener, very kind, and very flexibile. He made us feel extremely comfortable. At the wedding, he was extremely calm and was wonderful throughout the service. The best part was his speech about my wife and I - he absolutely nailed it. Succinct but very meaningful We still read it on occasion. He really set the tone for the night. Since the wedding, we have kept in touch and checked in on each other. Again, he's just a very thoughtful and kind person. I would recommend him enthusiastically and without reservation.

Friday and spent some time trying to get a feel for us so that he was able to give a talk at our wedding that felt personal and true to us and our relationship. People were very impressed - as were we - and certainly did not guess that he'd only known us as a couple for a day!