JTA posted an 88-word article about the first gay Jewish wedding in the Netherlands.
We know when and where it took place. We know that the Council of Rabbis of the Dutch Union of Progressive Synagogues authorized the ceremony. We know that gay marriage was legalized in the Netherlands in 2001.
We do not know why the article says that the wedding was a wedding, but then says, “The ceremony, called a brit ahava, or covenant of love, is not an official Jewish wedding, a rabbinic spokesman told reporters.” What is a brit ahava? Is it a form of Ketubah? It is something else entirely? A shtar? And how is it not an official wedding? And what does official even mean in this context?
Basically… what?
