It would have been understandable if Sarah Techiya Litman and Ariel Biegel of Israel decided to have a private, low-key wedding. After all, their original wedding date, Nov. 17, had to be postponed after Sarah’s father and 18-year-old brother, Yaakov and Netanel Litman, were killed by terrorists just days before the wedding while en route to a pre-wedding celebration.

Instead, the couple has decided to invite Jews everywhere to join them. Among the thousands of expected guests will be many who are coming from as far as Australia and the United States, representing family and friends back home. To accommodate the crowds, the wedding has been relocated to the Jerusalem International Convention Center.

“Don’t make our enemies happy,” the couple emphasized in a statement. “We fell, we got up, with G‑d’s help, our wedding will take place next Thursday, 26 November, 14 Kislev, at Binyanei Hauma in Jerusalem. The nation of Israel is invited to get up from the dust and rejoice with us ... .”

Inspired by the couple’s faith, courage and optimism, several Chabad Houses and Chabad on Campus branches have been holding raffles over the past few days to send communal representatives to the wedding. In Melbourne, Australia, and Ottawa, Canada—and in a number of cities in the United States—individuals are donating funds for a chance to win the airfare to attend the wedding this Thursday evening.

The wedding and its large gathering—thousands are expected to attend and fulfill the commandment of being joyful and celebrating with the bride and groom—comes as Jews celebrate the Hakhel year, where unifying gatherings of Jewish men, women and children of all ages are encouraged, with an emphasis on learning Torah.

“This initiative presents our community with a tangible and meaningful way to express our solidarity, love and support with the people of Israel,” says Rabbi Aaron Slonim, executive director of the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton University in Upstate New York. “Beyond that, 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.”

The communal outpouring of support for the betrothed, both in their 20s, was simply overwhelming in Australia, says Rabbi Dovid Gutnick, co-director of Chabad East Melbourne. “In just two days, over 150 people entered the raffle, and many others just chose to donate.”

And a tour operator in Israel offered the winner free sight-seeing excursions around Jerusalem, according to Gutnick, who adds that “the response has been incredible.”

‘The Story of the Jewish People’



Velly Slavin, adult-education director of Chabad of Malvern in Australia, noted in a post on Facebook that they have not only raised enough money to send a community representative to the wedding, but to also deliver a “substantial wedding gift to the young couple.”

“We thank the Australian Jewish community for the outpouring of support that will surely bring comfort and joy to the young couple,” Slavin said in his posting.

Also holding raffles for a chance to attend the wedding are the Chabad Student Center at Einstein in the Bronx, N.Y.; the Rohr Chabad Student Network of Ottawa in Canada; Chabad on Campus in Queens, N.Y.; and Chabad of Southwest Broward in Florida.

A representative will also be attending the wedding on behalf of Chabad in southern New Jersey. Three local centers—Chabad Lubavitch of Camden County in Cherry Hill, the Israeli Chabad Center in Voorhees and Chabad of Medford—teamed up to raise funds for the couple and to send a local resident to attend the wedding on their behalf.

“We have no doubt they will be very touched that the Jewish community of South Jersey is thinking of them, mourning with them and now celebrating with them,” says Rabbi Menachem Kaminker, co-director of the Israeli Chabad Center and editor of the Hebrew edition of Chabad.org.

The murder of Sarah Litman’s father and brother distressed Jews worldwide, but it hit the Chabad community in Israel particularly hard; Yaakov Litman taught first- and second-grade students at the Gan Chabad in Kiryat Arba, where the family lives.

Kaminker feels that so many individuals are rallying around Sarah Litman and her groom because their situation resonates everywhere. “I think it’s because this is truly the story of the Jewish people and how, despite all kinds of setback and tragedies, we still carry on,” he says. “And not only do we carry on, but we reach for higher places—in this case, the building of a home and family.”

Gutnick readily agrees: “Despite the current and historical challenges and tragedies, we are an unbreakable family. And when we are united, we will prevail and we will thrive. That is the lesson of history, and that is what we are doing now.”