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They married 61 years ago — now they finally have a chupah ceremony after wife converts

Although Mina Kossoff has lived a Jewish life for seven decades, she never formally joined the faith. But having converted, she was able to fulfil a long-held wish

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A Hertfordshire couple have married under a chupah — 61 years after their original civil wedding ceremony.

Jack and Mina Kossoff were married at The Liberal Synagogue Elstree, where children from the religion school made the decorations for the venue. The ceremony was arranged after Mrs Kossoff converted to Judaism. Although she had lived a Jewish life for seven decades, she had never formally joined the faith.

Elstree’s Rabbi Pete Tobias explained that Mr Kossoff, 83, had told him that his 90-year-old wife really wanted to be married under a chupah. “A quickly organised Liberal Judaism Beit Din at TLSE confirmed Mina’s status and they were married a few months later, on a Sunday morning, with the children of the religion school present. The children decorated the chupah and made cards and cakes for the happy couple.”

Mr Kossoff told the JC: “We had been thinking for a long time about how to renew our vows under a chupah in a synagogue.

“We are delighted that The Liberal Synagogue Elstree and Liberal Judaism made it so easy, and so special, for us. The ceremony was a very happy event and the whole day was wonderful. We were also blessed to have the young children from the synagogue at our ceremony, which made it even more beautiful.”

Liberal Judaism’s senior rabbi, Danny Rich, said: “A conversion under Liberal Jewish auspices normatively takes 18 months, including a year experiencing all the Jewish festivals and attending synagogue. So Mina’s 70 years far exceeded the norm!

“Liberal Judaism is proud to be a movement that is a home for everyone’s Jewish story,  no matter at what age they find us.”

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