Hello and Happy “secular New Year. If this is your first time reading my column, did you know there is a way to go back and read old columns? On your computer, go to the JDCC Website: www.jdcc.org. Then do a search under “interpreter” or “Interpreter Comer”. All of the previous articles are listed.

In honor of this issue’s theme, I would like to talk about Weddings. Most interpreters are probably less familiar with interpreting a wedding than a shabbat service. That is because shabbat comes every week and many interpreters who go to synagogue knew the liturgy (parts of the service) before they began interpreting it. With a wedding, most of us don’t attend a wedding every week. Also, I will admit, that until I interpreted my first wedding, I never really knew what the rabbi and cantor were saying.

Fortunately, the basic parts of a wedding service are pretty standard and the blessings usually are the same. To any interpreter, I would recommend that you go to a bookstore and buy a “rabbi’s manual”, which will list the whole service, in Hebrew and in English.

The most important/central part of the wedding is the seven blessings. An interpreter should study and prepare these ahead of time (from Hebrew or English). The rabbi will also read the Ketubah, so you should get a copy of this ahead of time. Be sure to ask the bride and groom their Hebrew names, which will appear in the Ketubah.

At a wedding, I really work hard not to “upstage” the bride. This is her day and I don’t want to take any of the attention away from her. Brides are also pretty fussy about their “color scheme”, so I make sure I wear a plain black dress (same color as the rabbi and cantor).

Of course, the most challenging wedding is an orthodox one. Because of the separation of men and women, a woman could not appear as the interpreter near the Chupah. Either a male interpreter must be used for all to see, or two interpreters must be hired for the two groups of guests.

If you have any questions about interpreting a wedding or have an interesting wedding/interpreter story to share, please contact me at [email protected]. I will be sure to share your comments in my column next time. Till then . . .