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A first kiss, then marriage: Two rabbis-to-be tie the knot at a fun-filled California wedding
(JTA) — Zoe Dressner and Margeaux Wolberg had just one month free between graduating from college and when they were due in Jerusalem to begin rabbinical school. So, they figured, in addition to packing, finding an apartment and nailing down the logistics of a 6,000-mile move, why not get married?
At 23 and 22, respectively, the women are much younger than the average college-educated brides — but the decision to marry felt like a natural step in the relationship that began just months into college, accelerated because of the pandemic and, they knew, was headed for a shared destination in the rabbinate.
“The only questions left were do we go directly after college or take a year off, and which school do we apply to,” said Dressner. “Luckily, we both felt really attached to the Reform movement, which meant we were both set on attending Hebrew Union College. We’re lucky that it worked out.”
They had been together for less than a year when all colleges and universities in the United States shuttered their campuses because of the descending pandemic.
“We lived with my family and her family. We weren’t in college with our friends anymore,” Dressner said. “We figured that if this is working, then it must be legit, and it was.”
Their love story traversed three of Judaism’s denominations. Both women were first-year students in the joint program between Columbia University and List College, the undergraduate school of the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary,when Dressner asked her classmates in an introductory Bible class whether anyone would like to check out a Reconstructionist Shabbat service. She got only one taker: Wolberg.
One feature of the wedding stood out: a bouncy house. “I need to be pushed out of my comfort zone,” Dressner said. (Courtesy)
The next morning, on a cold January day, they walked from Morningside Heights to the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, commonly known as SAJ, a Reconstructionist synagogue about two miles south of the JTS campus, and back. As they chatted, they learned they had something in common that was relatively rare for students at List College: Their Jewish passion had been stoked in the Reform movement, through their synagogues and the NFTY youth group — Wolberg in San Francisco and Dressner in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
Three months after their Shabbat morning stroll, the two women opened up to each other that their new friendship was turning into something more.
Neither had ever dated another woman. In fact, Dressner was the first person Wolberg ever dated at all.
“She was my first kiss,” Wolberg said. “And now we’re married.”
Once they planned to wed, they decided it would mostly fall on Wolberg to plan the wedding, while Dressner would plan the proposal. Back in New York, on Dec. 23, 2021, Dressner’s itinerary took them from a light show at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden to sipping warm cider on a rooftop bar to dinner at a kosher steakhouse. They also exchanged rings.
“We started the day by walking around Morningside Heights and recalling special memories together: dates, places we’d lived, etc.” Wolberg said. “I wasn’t surprised that we were getting engaged that day, but the whole day’s plan was a surprise.”
Their wedding similarly packed a lot into a short time. After heading to Calfornia from New York, they had a five-day window in which to marry before leaving for Israel. They set their sights on Sunday, June 12, but their preferred venue could accommodate them only on June 10, the Friday before.
The pair married amid the redwood trees at Old Mill Park in Marin County, holding a daytime reception that reflected a slew of their passions: Mediterranean food, progressive politics (informational posters about same-sex marriage and gun control) and Tevas, the outdoor sandals that both nature enthusiasts have long favored.
Dressner and Wolberg married amid the redwood trees at Old Mill Park in Marin County, California. (Hellena Cedeño Photography)
Then the couple headed to Kabbalat Shabbat services at San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El. (Beth Singer, Emanu-El’s rabbi, had performed their wedding ceremony after another rabbi and cantor had to cancel.) A catered dinner followed, at which their grandparents and siblings recited the sheva brachot, the blessings said during the first week of a marriage. They went back Saturday morning for services, then headed to Wolberg’s parents’ house for a family lunch. That night, they held a party for their friends.
The couple said they appreciated that Shabbat services became a continuation of their celebration. They also said that one feature of the wedding stood out: the bouncy house.
That was Dressner’s idea. Given their ages, she said, she thought, “Why not?”
But although some of their parents were initially skeptical about it, most of the guests partook. And one could also see the massive inflatable slide that the couple zoomed down together as a metaphor for their relationship.
“I’m much more reserved personality-wise, and sometimes I need to be pushed out of my comfort zone,” Dressner said. “I learn a lot from the wonderful way Margeaux approaches the world so differently.”
Meanwhile, Wolberg said that among the traits she loves most about her partner is that she has long considered herself a bit of an eccentric (her love of Renaissance music was part of what endeared her to Dressner), and thought it might be difficult to find someone who would put up with her many quirks.
“Zoe wholeheartedly accepts me,” she said. “My quirks are the things she loves the most. She’s not just putting up with me, but really loves all of me for exactly who I am.”
This story is part of JTA’s Mazels series, which profiles unique and noteworthy Jewish life events from births to b’nai mitzvah to weddings and everything in between.
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NYPD Details Increased Security Measures for Passover Amid ‘Heightened State of Alert’ Against Terrorism Threats
New York City Police Department (NYPD) vehicles are seen in Brooklyn, New York, United States, on Oct. 13, 2024. Photo: Kyle Mazza via Reuters Connect
The New York Police Department (NYPD) will increase its presence around the city as New Yorkers celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover next week amid what Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described on Thursday as the most threatening terrorist landscape of her career.
“In my 18 years in government, which started in counterterrorism, I have not seen a threat environment quite like this one,” Tisch told leaders of the Jewish community who gathered at 1 Police Plaza for the NYPD’s annual pre-Passover security briefing. “It is clear that we will be in a heightened state of alert for the foreseeable future.”
“You will see increased patrols in the vicinity of synagogues and other houses of worship,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner said at the security briefing. She added that the NYPD will deploy members of its counterterrorism divisions, critical response command, heavy weapons teams, and K-9 units to “high threat” locations around the city.
The department is also relying on its system of cameras and sensors, monitored by members of the NYPD’s intelligence division, as well as as its international partners in the Middle East to help them with early-warning detection of threats against New Yorkers.
“These teams provide necessary deterrence and target guarding, and they should also provide reassurance that we are everywhere, that we can be omnipresent,” Weiner said. “There will be security measures that you see, and many others that you won’t. As this onslaught of misplaced retaliation, retribution, and hate continues, we will continue to do all in our power to interrupt it.”
In her remarks, Tisch mentioned four terrorist attacks that took place on US soil since the joint US-Israeli military strikes against Iran on Feb. 28. The attacks include a deadly mass shooting at a bar in Austin, Texas, on March 1, in which the gunman wore a shirt featuring the image of the Iranian flag; an ISIS-inspired attempted bombing at an “American’s Against Islamification” protest in Manhattan’s Upper East Side on March 7; a car ramming at a synagogue in Detroit, Michigan, on March 12 by a man whose family has ties to the Hezbollah terrorist organization; and the shooting of a ROTC instructor in Norfolk, Virginia, that same day by a gunman and known terrorist who screamed “Allahu Akbar.”
Tisch also noted attacks in Europe, including the arson attack targeting four Hatzalah vehicles parked outside a synagogue in north London early this week.
“These are perilous times to be sure. I know you feel the stress and anxiety in your synagogues, in your schools or community centers, and even in your own homes. I feel it too,” Tisch said. “But I also know the NYPD is laser-focused on keeping this city safe with one of the most impressive and sophisticated intelligence and counterterrorism operations in the world.”
She said the NYPD is preparing for a “safe and joyful Passover celebration” and talked about uniformed patrols officers being stationed over Passover around synagogues, Jewish schools, and other Jewish sites. “This work we do together is vital because on top of raising our terrorism level, escalating conflict in the Middle East is also fueling antisemitism around the globe and certainly here at home,” she noted.
In the immediate aftermath of the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, antisemitic hate crimes in New York City surged 80 percent from Oct. 7 until the end of 2023, according to the police commissioner. By the end of last year, that number began to decline and overall hate crimes decreased by nearly 16 percent. However, since the start of 2026 – following the appointment of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — antisemitic crimes, as well as hate crimes overall, are again on the rise, she concluded by saying.
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Rubio, Pro-Israel Lawmakers Voice Alarm Over West Bank Settler Violence as IDF Warns of ‘Unacceptable’ Situation
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a US-Paraguay Status of Forces agreement signing ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, US, Dec. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Washington is “concerned” by settler violence in the West Bank and expects Israel to act, as a growing number of pro-Israel lawmakers in the US and senior Israeli military officials warn that the unchecked attacks are harming Israel’s security and international standing.
Rubio, one of Israel’s staunchest supporters within the Trump Administration, said from France that President Donald Trump has opposed “any sort of change in the status quo in the West Bank” and indicated that Israeli authorities recognize the seriousness of the problem.
Rubio’s remarks came amid months of attacks across the West Bank that have continued during the war with Iran.
The Times of Israel reported this week that the first 25 days of the war with Iran saw 257 incidents of extremist settler violence and land seizures, with at least seven Palestinians killed by Israeli civilians.
Many of the attacks have involved West Bank settlers physically assaulting residents — including elderly Palestinian women and children — torching Palestinian homes and vehicles, and hurling stones at cars on West Bank roads.
Israelis who have tried to document or stop the violence have also been severely injured by settlers. In February, two Israeli activists were hospitalized with serious head wounds after being beaten by settlers near Qusra.
Israeli soldiers have also been repeatedly attacked and wounded by settlers while responding to incidents.
“The Israelis themselves have expressed [concern],” Rubio added. “You’ve seen that some of these groups and individuals — maybe they’re settlers, maybe they’re just street thugs — have attacked Israeli security forces as well, so I think you’ll see the government there do something about it.”
The violence has drawn unusually sharp criticism from US lawmakers generally seen as strong supporters of Israel.
Among them are Reps. Ritchie Torres and Daniel Goldman of New York. Torres, widely regarded as one of Israel’s strongest advocates in Congress, said this week that “the crisis of extremist settler violence in the West Bank must be confronted, and the perpetrators must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” calling for “zero tolerance for violent extremism, no matter what form it takes.” Goldman similarly described the violence as an “outrage” and said, “the Israeli government must hold those responsible accountable, as the rule of law requires.”
One of the strongest warnings, however, has come from within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) itself.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said this month that attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinians and Israeli troops are “morally and ethically unacceptable” and cause “extraordinary strategic damage” to the military’s efforts during a multi-front war. Zamir stressed that the perpetrators “do not represent the settlements” and warned that such violence endangers “security, stability, and our values as a people and as a state.”
That warning took on added urgency when the IDF announced this week that it had diverted an infantry battalion that had been intended for fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon to the West Bank amid the latest wave of settler attacks, according to a report from The Jerusalem Post.
In a separate report, Zamir was also said to have warned ministers that the IDF risks “collapsing in on itself” under mounting operational demands and manpower shortages.
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Berlin Police Report Over 12,000 Offenses Connected to Anti-Israel Demonstrations Since Oct. 7 Attack
Supporters of Hamas gather in Berlin. Photo: Reuters/M. Golejewski
Berlin police have recorded more than 12,000 criminal offenses tied to pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the German capital since the start of the war in Gaza, according to newly released figures — laying bare the sheer extent of unrest that has accompanied months of anti-Israel protests in the city.
Officials had documented 12,493 offenses connected to demonstrations and related activity as of March, according to data compiled by a Berlin police task force established after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
German media, which first reported the data, noted the special investigative unit has been probing individuals involved in illegal activity or with criminal records who drew attention at anti-Israel demonstrations in Berlin, tracking their activities and connections across the city.
Among the most frequent charges were 2,277 violent crimes, including 1,189 cases involving resistance to law enforcement officers. Police also recorded 3,453 cases of property damage, 2,205 propaganda-related offenses, and 1,046 incidents classified as incitement to hatred.
Authorities further reported that their records include 3,327 investigations involving at least one suspect with foreign nationality or multiple nationalities — roughly a quarter of all cases.
In total, suspects from 189 different national backgrounds or combinations of nationalities were identified.
Among non-German suspects, Syrian nationals accounted for the largest number of cases, followed by Turkish and Italian nationals.
This newly released report comes amid ongoing debate in Germany over the involvement of foreign actors in organizing or taking part in anti-Israel demonstrations.
Ahmad Mansour, an expert on Islamism, recently warned in a post on X that security officials have begun referring to so-called “travelers” — individuals who allegedly come to Germany specifically to participate in or organize pro-Hamas protests.
However, a Berlin police spokesperson told German newspaper Bild that authorities currently have no reliable evidence indicating the existence of organized waves of individuals traveling from abroad to attend the demonstrations.
Police spokesman Florian Nath also pointed to the role of online networks in mobilizing protesters, describing the pro-Palestinian activist scene in Berlin as highly active across social media platforms.
“No significant foreign influence can be detected in the publicly accessible online sources examined here,” Nath said in a statement.
Like most countries across Europe and the broader Western world, Germany has seen a shocking rise in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
According to recently released figures, the number of antisemitic offenses in the country reached a record high in 2025, totaling 2,267 incidents, including violence, incitement, property damage, and propaganda offenses.
By comparison, officially recorded antisemitic crimes were significantly lower at 1,825 in 2024, 900 in 2023, and fewer than 500 in 2022, prior to the Oct. 7 atrocities.
Berlin specifically has seen a record surge in antisemitism following the outbreak of war in Gaza.