An interesting thing happened to me today. I received an online invitation to an Aufruf (אויפרוף ofrif) being held in New York - given by, and for, people I didn't know. Clearly they had the wrong Nancy Spector. However, it spurred me on to find out more about Aufrufs. It comes from the Yiddish word meaning "calling up." The groom is called up to the Torah on the Sabbath before the wedding. This site says that the congregation often supplements the chorus of mazal tovs by throwing nuts and raisins at the groom. And Wikipedia says that in many Ashkenazi Orthodox communities, the bride often doesn't attend because it is the custom of the bride and groom not to see each other for a week before the wedding. Instead the women gather and celebrate the bride (like a bachelorette party?) - and I loved this part - it's called the Shabbat Kallah, or the bride's Sabbath.
It's seen in the Orthodox community; even Shu hadn't heard of it (and, like Mikey, he knows everything!). But it's interesting to me how oftentimes cultures have similar traditions that were built from very different foundations. For example, the bachelorette party idea or the bride not seeing the groom before the service. Do you know of others like this?
I would transcribe it as oyfruf, although the u to i alternation is common between Lithuanian and Polish Yiddish (cf. gut and git 'good'). The word Aufruf is standard High German (link) meaning 'calling, invocation; cue'.
many Ashkenazi Orthodox communities, the bride often doesn't attend because it is the custom of the bride and groom not to see each other for a week before the wedding.
Funny the different customs. My wife disappeared for a week AFTER we got married. Go figure.
I would transcribe it as oyfruf, although the u to i alternation is common between Lithuanian and Polish Yiddish (cf. gut and git 'good'). The word Aufruf is standard High German (link) meaning 'calling, invocation; cue'.
In my post above it was transcribed as ofrif, though it seems to be commonly written as Aufruf.
I emailed the person who sent me the invitation (and by now I've received them for a number of events) and told her I was the wrong person. I said I was Nancy Spector in Chicago, and she said, "Well, the Nancy Spector we are inviting is from Chicago, too." Even more interesting, one of the people included on the email is a physician Shu and I have seen. It's a small world!This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
