(sorry if this should more properly be put in MPSIMS)
My friend just got married in NYC. There were many tourists there taking pictures that day, and shortly after he found this website describing his marriage!
I used Google Translate, and think I understand the gist of the description, but still had some questions.
First, is this a website mainly for users in Russia, or is it geared for Russian-Americans?
Next, what on earth does the last paragraph say? Is the author saying it’s a tragedy for them to be married? (as per Google Translate, "That’s actually surprising. If ordinary American (New York) family are tolerant of intermarriage (or pretend that they are so related), to a Jewish family is almost a tragedy. ")
Is the author being supportive or intolerant?
The translation of #7 and #10 talk about a man in a “pile” - was that the Russian word for yarmulke?
Are there any other glaring errors using Google Translate?
Thanks so much for your help! My friend and his new wife really want to know what this stranger was saying about them!
It’s a web site of a radio station in Moscow, although they also broadcast, apparently, in Russian, in NYC and Chicago.
My translation (I tried to stick pretty close to original phrasing):
“Everything is possible, but I will dare to assume that in this case the bride was Jewish and the choice of ceremony was her demand or wish. That was what was surprising. The usual American (New-Yorker) families are tolerant towards mixed marriages (or pretend that they are), but for a Jewish family it’s almost a tragedy. They [the Jewish families - terr] have special feelings about it. Especially since the daughter is involved. I personally know one such case, when a daughter in a Jewish non-religious family started dating a black guy. Mom and dad were trying not to show it, but inside were dreaming that the couple would break up as soon as possible, before God forbid something [presumably such a wedding - terr] happened. I myself don’t really know how I would react if my son started dating a black girl. You look at other mixed couples - it seems ok, but you don’t really want to imagine yourself in such a situation. What are your thoughts on the matter. Would you be ok with having black children or grandchildren? Or a black spouse?”
Decide for yourself from the paragraph itself.
Then came - mmmm - a man wearing a kippah with very peculiar manners. After my life among the ultra-orthodox Jews I hesitate to call him a rabbi. Although maybe he was one.
The man with the kippah read something from a piece of paper for quite a while. Everyone stood and listened.
Thanks so much for the translation! Google Translate did help, but some of it just seemed garbled to us.
The wedding was lovely, although it was strange having all of those tourists taking pictures. I guess that multiracial marriages are quite rare in Russia.
It was cool that the chuppah (canopy that Jewish people get married under) was made from cloth that came from Africa. After the groom broke the glass, both of them then “jumped the broom”, an African-American tradition.
Really was a memorable wedding, and quite different.
They are, but that is not why this person is writing. The author is a Jew living in New York (or at least in the US, for as far as I can gather) who is perfectly familiar with interracial couples and does not appear to be the least bit surprised by them. His blog post is not about this marriage being interracial but about it being *a Jewish woman *in an interracial marriage. Also note that this is a blog post, not a news article, it’s not like Russian editors are okaying articles on random US marriages here because it’s of such massive news value to the Russian public that people with different ethnic backgrounds are getting married. That said, this blog post has attracted a lot of comments, but of course we don’t know if any of the commenters are actually in Russia itself, or whether they’re all diaspora. Also, a good number of the comments appear to be chastising the author for his perceived intolerance.
Sort of a confusing story, hope I have the details correct. A friend from high school called him up, and said congrats on your wedding! He said thanks, how did you know? She said her mom, who lives in Russia, emailed her to say that she recognized his picture on the website.
The possible reasoning of the photographer aside, those are great pictures and they capture some of the amazing aspects of the day and the city’s unique features to go along w/ it. What a gorgeous setting and great idea! My best to your friends as well.
Russia’s not so tolerant of Jews, historically; maybe the blogger’s being snide about both groups? Nice that it’s bitten them in the tuckus in the comments.
Did you read any of the previous posts, or were you to excited about an opportunity to spread around some of your ignorance and prejudice? It’s been mentioned several times in this thread that the author of the blog post in the OP is Jewish…
I’m suggesting they’re self-loathing, actually. Since this is GQ and insults directed at other posters aren’t allowed, I’ll leave it at that.
Hershele Ostropoler, I was deliberately oversimplifying, yes, b/c this thread isn’t about how the Russians, then the Soviets, and again the Russians have oppressed their Jewish population historically, depriving them of the most basic rights of humanity and state citizenship overtly (pogroms, Stalinist purges, refuseniks, gulags) and covertly (anti-Semitism in state news and propaganda, etc).
