Rabbi David Stav, a senior figure in the hesder yeshiva network and activist in Rabbanei Tzohar has announced the couples attending chasenahs of friends should not give more than 300 NIS. The rav feels if the amount of gifts remains modest, it will result in a drop in wedding costs, a win/win situation. The rav feels the 300 NIS amount should be viewed as a gift ceiling as young couples are having difficulty financing chasenahs.
Rabbi Stav explains that at times, the bal simcha feels the wedding gifts will cover the cost of the event and he frowns on such a practice, adding this is especially challenging for the many rabbonim invited to many weddings and they simply cannot meet the challenge of giving the expected gift.
Tzfas Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu adds that guests should bring what they can afford, and if not a check then they should bring a gift of value, like silver, and if not, something of “spiritual value”, explaining the main point is to come and participate in the simcha of a friend and not to have agmas nefesh over how much one can/should spend on a gift.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
Really this isn’t news. The Gedolim have been trying to get wedding costs down for years, and are largely ignored.
One should remember that the minimum cost for a wedding involves a ring (perhaps $100 at most, though some hold that one can substitute a vegetable for a ring if it is worth a prutah), a pre-printed kesuba available for a few dollars at any bookstore (and can be “run off” the web), and enough light snack so you can make all the brachos (and in all fairness, the suedah isn’t really a requirement).
Baruch ha-Shem we live at a time where the rabbanim have to complain about spending too much on weddings. The times when they didn’t complain (such as 70 years ago) were generally not pleasant periods in our history. Our great-grandparents would consider it a bracha to live at time where the rabbanim complained that people were able to splurge on weddings.
Gifts should be given at every simchah that a person attends. Bar Mitzvah, Chasunahs, etc.–there is always something that can be given or purchased. Hakaras hatov for the invite & to add to the simchah.,
Hey akuperma is back. Have you been on vacation? We missed your posts. I couldn’t understand the articles without you. Welcome back.