It’s wedding season once again. Baruch Hashem, simchos abound, and nearly every night brings another opportunity to be mesameiach a chosson and kallah. And yet, if we’re being honest, the experience often comes with a sense of tension and frustration. We leave our homes early, brave traffic, search for parking, and make our way into yet another hall—only to find ourselves… waiting. Waiting through the extended picture session. Waiting for the first dance to begin. Waiting between courses. Waiting as the band sets up, resets, and pauses again. Hours pass, and while we’re happy to take part in someone else’s simchah, there’s a gnawing feeling that our evening could have been more productive—more uplifting. We want to give, but not at the expense of our own spiritual rhythm. Recently, however, I experienced a different kind of wedding—and it left me inspired. At two separate weddings held at Marina del Rey, the baalei simchah did something simple but revolutionary: they arranged for Rav Aryeh Kerzner, a respected maggid shiur and popular speaker, to deliver a brief shiur between the chuppah and the first dance. It was just fifteen or twenty minutes. But those few minutes transformed the night. Instead of sitting around restlessly, guests were drawn into thoughtful Torah. We weren’t just filling time—we were filling ourselves. We danced afterward with more simchah because we felt we had gained. We gave kavod to Torah, brought ruchniyus into the simchah, and uplifted an otherwise passive part of the evening. And it got me thinking: Why shouldn’t this become the norm? Imagine if every wedding included a short, well-placed divrei Torah or shiur while the pictures are being taken. It need not be long. It need not delay anything. But it would offer tremendous benefit—giving purpose to the otherwise idle time and turning each wedding into a true night of aliyah for all involved. We are a people who cherish Torah and seize every opportunity to grow. This small addition to the standard wedding schedule would solve a very real problem: the feeling that wedding-going drains time without spiritual return. With a little forethought, we could transform a frustrating part of our community experience into something uplifting and enriching. Let this be the start of a new minhag Yisrael: Torah at our weddings—not just under the chuppah, but in the halls as well. It’s time to raise the bar. Let’s not just attend weddings. Let’s gain from them. Signed, Yitzy Stern The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.