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July 31, 2010 | 6:41 pm

Who is Rabbi Ponet? (And What are the Seven Blessings?)

Posted by Rob Eshman

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Rabbi James Ponet

The New York Times is reporting that Chelsea Clinton wed Marc Mezvinsky Saturday, July 31, in an interfaith wedding service conducted by Rabbi James Ponet and the Reverend William Shillady. Chelsea is Methodist, like her mom, and Mezvinsky is Jewish.

The news brings to a screeching halt weeks of speculation about whether Chelsea had taken steps to conversion- or whether Mezvinsky had.

Photos show Mezvinsky wearing a kippah as well s a tallis, or prayer shawl. Though Mezvinsky was raised in a Conservative Jewish home, Rabbi Ponet, who performed the service, is a graduate of Hebrew Union College, a Reform seminary.

Rabbi Ponet is Yale University’s Jewish chaplain.  He heads the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.  According to his official bio:

Rabbi Jim Ponet, TD, ‘68, is the first Yale alumnus to serve as Yale’s Jewish Chaplain, a position he has been honored to fill since 1981.  “I value learning and teaching above all else, regard every meeting as an encounter, a revelation, a moment at the mountain, and spend as much time as possible listening to and for the sound of subtle stillness.”

Currently he teaches a college seminar with Dr. Ruth Westheimer on “The Family in the Jewish Tradition.”  He and his wife, Elana, lead a weekly discussion in Slifka Dining Room on the value of peace in Jewish life and thought.

The service included elements from both Jewish and Methodist traditions.  The Times and other sources reported that the couples’ friends and family read the Seven Blessings, which are typically recited at traditional Jewish weddings following the vows and exchange of rings.

The Seven Blessings are more traditionally known by their Hebrew name, Sheva Berachot. They are recited at traditional Jewish weddings following vows and the exchange of rings.  Here is the English translation of the Sheva Berachot:

The blessings are:

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, Who has created everything for your glory.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, Creator of Human Beings.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, Who has fashioned human beings in your image, according to your likeness and has fashioned from it a lasting mold. Blessed are You Adonai, Creator of Human Beings.

Bring intense joy and exultation to the barren one (Jerusalem) through the ingathering of her children amidst her in gladness. Blessed are You, Adonai, Who gladdens Zion through her children.

Gladden the beloved companions as You gladdened Your creatures in the garden of Eden. Blessed are You, Adonai, Who gladdens groom and bride.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, Who created joy and gladness, groom and bride, mirth, glad song, pleasure, delight, love, brotherhood, peace, and companionship. Adonai, our God, let there soon be heard in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the grooms’ jubilance from their canopies and of the youths from their song-filled feasts. Blessed are You Who causes the groom to rejoice with his bride.

According to the web site My Jewish Learning, “The sheva berakhot are the real heart of the Jewish wedding ceremony; it is in this liturgical moment of the ceremony that themes of joy and celebration and the ongoing power of love are expressed. Taken from the pages of the Talmud (Ketubot 8a), the blessings, from one to seven, begin with the kiddush over wine and increase in intensity in their imagery and metaphors. It is no accident that there are seven of these blessings, since the number seven brings to mind the seven days of creation. Poetic echoes of creation and paradise abound in the blessings, as does the age-old yearning for return to Jerusalem. Significantly, the final blessing culminates with imagery of the entire community singing and celebrating with the bride and groom, reminding all present that the couple standing under the huppah is a link in the chain of Jewish continuity.”

No word on whether the bridegroom shattered a glass, or whether President Clinton yelled, “Mazel tov!”

 

17 Comments — Leave your comment

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Bill Clinton is not “President Clinton, as he is called at the conclusion if the article. He should be referred to as former president…

Comment by Maynard Gerber on 8/01/10 at 10:18 pm

He should be ashamed of himself. Giving false “legitimacy” to the loss of another jewish soul.
However you cook a pork chop it will never be kosher.

Comment by Ivor Newman on 8/01/10 at 10:55 pm

Really Ugly, first time that i coming here and last time also.

Why are calling yourself Jew?

Are you the same jews burnt in the middle age, in pogroms, converted in force in Spain ... ???

Comment by Yea! and Pork is Kosher! on 8/02/10 at 7:19 am

I would like to see the Reform movement take a decisive stance forbidding their rabbis from performing intermarriages. Both the Conservative and Orthodox movements have such a policy, and no wonder both of these movements do not accept Reform conversions. Rather than dictate their secular standards on the Israel population concerning the “Conversion Bill” the Reform movement should do its own house cleaning first.

Comment by Dr David Edwards on 8/02/10 at 6:47 pm

I hope it will not surprise the previous commentators that I agree with them.  How DOES one form a home in which one parent believes Jesus is the Messiah and the other believes that not only Jesus is not the Messiah but that their ancestors have been persecuted for centuries by the followers of Jesus?  This is a house divided.  Intermarriage is the destruction of both communities.  What do most mixed couples teach their children?  NOTHING!  Or the stronger personality controls.  Or the parents try to have some of both which is ultimately impossible.  How does one celebrate Chanukah and Christmas in the same month without either denying the deep meaning of Christmas or the deep meaning of Chanukah? 

It is not possible to set up a home of unity with one parent a Christian and one a Jew.  If more Christians were honest about our own tradition we also would not participate in such weddings.  If Christians respected and loved their Jewish neighbors we would not participate in this destruction of the Jewish community.

Comment by Pastor Bob on 8/03/10 at 8:23 pm

I wish them the joys of life.  Words are words, actions are what count.  May they have a long and fruitful life.

Comment by Sally Greene on 8/04/10 at 8:14 am

Pastor Bob:  That’s a perspective I’ve rarely if ever encountered.  Would you say you’re in the minority?  Majority?  Is it a reflection of your movement’s position, or your own?  Most Jews these days assume Christians are fine with intermarriage—it’s Jews who have problems with it.  Your concerns assume both parents are believers and practitioners of their respective faiths.  In most intermarriages I know, either one spouse cares more and one hardly at all,  in which case the home defaults to the more passionate person’s tradition, or neither cares all that much and the home just becomes a kind of ecumenical free for all.  It seems to me that if both spouses really cared, they wouldn’t have married in the first place.  But I’m no expert on this?  Thoughts?

Comment by Rob Eshman on 8/04/10 at 8:30 am

@ Roy Eshman

Roy my fist concern is for the Jewish Community.  Inter religious marriage too often means that children will be raised with no faith at all because of the conflict in the couple.  This is a factor in shrinking the Jewish community. 

My second concern as a Christian is that while Jews and Christian share the Hebrew Bible as Scripture there will be conflict in the home. If the family tries to maintain both traditions this will confuse younger children to no end.  AND the parent with the stronger personality may control what tradition the children follow. 

I have never done a wedding for a mixed couple because of the different viewpoints on life.  Not that I am condemning the Jewish community but rather the conflicts when the couple has children.  Will the family and the children find a place in the Messianic Christian community?  Will one faith replace the other?  Or will they become secular?  Intermarriage causes great harm to the Jewish community as it draws Jews out of the Jewish community.

i remember way back when I was a child my Dad talked about a friend who’s children were confused.  So he went out and bought what he called a “hanukah bush.”  That is, I think a mixture of traditions that should not happen.  And for that matter it ties Christianity to a pagan holiday.

Comment by Pastor Bob on 8/04/10 at 11:06 am

I wish Pastor Bob’s point of view was more widespread in the Jewish community. As far as I can see it completely reflects the opinion of the Lubavitch leader, Rabbi Menachem Shnerson O"H who said that if one truly loved the non-jewish person then you would save them inevitable pain of marital conflict by not marrying them.
BTW, Yeal Judaism is not a warm, fuzzy, vague religion but one of standards and principles. You really ought to educate yourself.

Comment by Ivor Newman on 8/05/10 at 11:07 pm

A fruitful life ahead… <a > Gout Pain Treatment </a>

Comment by gout pain treatment on 8/10/10 at 12:43 am

Will one faith replace the other?  Or will they become secular?  This is a house divided.  Intermarriage is the destruction of both communities.

Comment by maggie sottero on 9/08/10 at 6:00 pm

Both the Conservative and Orthodox movements have such a policy.

maggie sottero

Comment by maggie sottero on 9/08/10 at 6:09 pm

AND the parent with the stronger personality may control what tradition the children follow.

Comment by chanel wallets on 9/26/10 at 6:48 pm

was there any real Jewish music played at the wedding?

Comment by Jewish music on 10/10/10 at 2:51 pm

Nice sharing, and great points. Learned many from it. Thanks
Pnina Tornai

Comment by pnina tornai on 10/10/10 at 6:10 pm

Amazing post, I especially like the part about the official bio. Thanks for sharing.

Comment by irish lottery results on 10/23/10 at 7:26 am

Both the Conservative and Orthodox movements have such a policy.

Alexis
Online Trading Australia

Comment by Alexis Sp on 11/17/10 at 5:04 pm

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