Rabbi Yoel Roth, Rosh Yeshiva of Breslov has declared war on wedding invitations, calling them a needless extravagance that has outlived their original purpose.
The leader of Mosdos Heichal Hakodesh Breslev in Williamsburg, Rabbi Yoel Roth, is well renowned for his daily inspirations, most of which are presented in Yiddish and cover subjects like the weekly Torah portion, everyday living, and encouragement.
Rabbi Roth explains in a funny way how, in previous generations, pre-wedding written correspondence was important because family members frequently lived miles apart in a video clip distributed today on WhatsApp by the Breslev Center.
Rabbi Roth argued that wedding invitations are no longer necessary in the modern world since it is possible to send a mass message to all of your guests with the push of a single button.
“Really, we should be sending our invitations by horse and buggy because we can’t deviate from the traditions of 150 years ago because it’s only right,” said Rabbi Roth.
“You daven with them in the same beis medrash. And you see them every day. But when it comes to a wedding, you have to mail them an invitation,” Roth added.
Rabbi Roth, who has previously denounced opulent lives, also pointed out that because no one wants to depart from societal conventions, wedding invites are seen as obligatory.
The audience laughed when he said a new trend would soon emerge, with Judaica stores selling leather bottles to carry invites.
Expensive bavarfens, or aufrufs, which should be a relatively low-cost occasion but cost $10,000 to $15,000 when all the costs are added up, are also on Rabbi Roth’s list of wedding expenses to be cut.
Rabbi Roth also mentioned how relatives have taken up collections to pay for the Simcha because of extravagant bavarfens and wedding invites, with people feeling obligated to go above and beyond their means to satisfy social expectations.
Rabbi Roth is a famous Rabbi Yechezkel Roth’s grandson, and Rabbi Yechezkel Roth passed away over a year ago.
The Breslev Center’s YouTube account has many of its videos and has had 2,535,171 views since it first went live almost 22 years ago.
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