San Diego, CA (special) -- Celebrating their union with the reenactment of a shtetl wedding, Adat Ami Synagogue and Congregation Beth Tefilah announced last Sunday that the new name of their merged Conservative congregation shall be Ohr Shalom, which means The Light of Peace.

Beth Tefilah, which means "House of Prayer" had been founded in 1962, while Adat Ami, which means "Congregation of My People" began life in 1989. Congregants dressed in clothes reminiscent of Fiddler on the Roof, for elaborate ceremonies which included not only an exchange of vows under a chuppah, but also Eastern European-style dancing, Yiddish songs and a celebratory vegetarian dinner. High School students Melissa Scholten and Jordan Ressler of Beth Tefilah and Adat Ami respectively portrayed the bride and groom, and there was parallelism for every other role in the wedding which was produced by Eileen Wingard.  For example chuppah holders included two past presidents of Adat Ami, Norman Greene and

Beth Tefilah bride and Adat Ami groom

Ruben Rosental, and two past presidents of Beth Tefilah, Al Shelden and Mark Strauss.

Co-officiants were Rabbi Arnold Kopikis, rabbi of Adat Ami and Beth Tefilah, and Rabbi Aaron Gottesman, a former rabbi of Beth Tefilah. They were joined by Cantor Mauricio Bogomolny.
Candle holders were Roberta Shoman, the founding president of the Adat Ami Sisterhood, and Esther Krantz, a past president of Beth Tefilah sisterhood. 

The groom was escorted by the current presidents of Adat Ami and Beth Tefilah, respectively Dr. George Kaplan and Morris Lazard; while the bride was walked down the aisle by Adat Ami Sisterhood President Louise Chandler and Beth Tefilah Sisterhood President Miriam Plotkin.
Similar parallelism was observed in choosing representatives of the grandparent generation; ketubah carriers, and ark openers.

A chassidic dance was performed by Joe Hartman, Irv Jacobs and Eli Meltzer, the latter of whom also was the badhen or emcee. Other entertainers included Myla Wingard, on violin, Mark Danisovszky on accordion; brother and sister Claire & Gavin Cutting playing "Dona
Dona" on oboe and guitar; Jeff Schwimmer singing "Belz" and Cantor Borgemolny singing "Oyfn Pripitchok" among other selections.

Greetings from the state Legislature were extended to the bride and groom by a costumed Assemblywoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego), who with her husband Steve is a member of the merged congregation.