The Jewish community of Honolulu, Hawaii, is gearing up for a first in the 50th state: a Chasidic wedding. On Nov. 21, Rabbi Itchel and Pearl Krasnjansky, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Hawaii, will be marrying off daughter Rivky Krasnjansky to Rabbi Avremel Chazanow of New Jersey at the Ihilani Resort at Ko Olina.
Some 500 guests will be attending from all over Hawaii, as well as the world. Invitees have sent RSVPs from Australia, Venezuela, South Africa, Canada and mainland U.S. cities. The wedding will feature all of the ancient Jewish customs – albeit with a modern twist – including a traditional ceremony under the wedding canopy known as a chupah.
Music is being provided by 8th Day, a new wave Jewish band from Los Angeles; the dancing promises to be, as it always is at a Chasidic wedding, an aerobic event, with the groom being lifted and swirled atop his chair. Gourmet kosher cuisine will be provided by a caterer specially flown in for the occasion from Los Angeles.
Wednesday's wedding of Rivky Krasnjansky and Rabbi Avremel Chazanow will mark the culmination of 20 years of Chabad-Lubavitch activities in Hawaii. The Krasnjanskys, whose own wedding was shown on "Good Morning America" some 22 years ago, arrived in August 1987 with a toddler – their oldest daughter, Sari, who was recently married in New York – and infant Rivky in tow. Since then, they've participated in the personal life-cycle milestones of hundreds of Jews in the local community, from ritual circumcisions to bar mitzvahs.
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