The union into which you are about to enter is the closest and tenderest into which human beings can come. It is a union founded upon mutual respect and affection. Your paths will be parallel, your responsibilities will increase, but your joy will be multiplied if you are sincere and earnest with one another.

Isabell Renate Noerr and Todd Peter Barasch, you are here to remember and rejoice and to recount with one another that it is love that guides you on our path, and to celebrate as you begin this journey together. It is in this spirit that you have come here to today to exchange these vows.

VOWS

Do you, Todd, take Isabell to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward? (I DO) Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish her for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health? (I DO) And, forsaking all others, will you remain only unto her for as long as you both shall live? (I WILL)

Then please repeat after me: I, Todd, take you, Isabell, to be my wife, knowing in my heart that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love!

Do you, Isabell, take Todd to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward? (I DO) Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish him for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health? (I DO) And, forsaking all others, will you remain only unto him for as long as you both shall live? (I WILL)

Then please repeat after me: I, Isabell, take you, Todd, to be my husband, knowing in my heart that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love!

RINGS

The wedding ring is a symbol of unity, a circle unbroken, without beginning or end. They are also a symbol of your love, trust and faithfulness. Today you give and receive these rings as demonstrations of your vows to make your life one, to work at all times to create a love that is whole and unbroken, and to love each other without end. When you look at this ring on your finger, let it serve as a reminder that you are not alone in this world.

Receive these rings from each other as a pledge of your abiding love for each other. As you place the ring on Isabell's finger, please repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed. Isabell, as you place Todd's ring on his finger, please repeat after me: With this ring I thee wed.

KETUBAH

This ketubah witnesses before God and all those present that on the 7 day of the week , the fourth day of the month of Kislev in the year five thousand seven hundred and sixty three, which corresponds to the ninth day of the month of November in the year 2002 as we reckon time here in the United States. The holy covenant of marriage was entered into between the groom, Todd Peter Barasch, and his bride, Isabell Renate Noerr:

With this ring, I consecrated unto you as my spouse. We stand under the chuppah before (family and friends) all creation to make a mutual covenant as equal partners, loving friends, and supportive companions all through our life. We will value and revere one another with honor and integrity as we create a loving future together. We will bring out in ourselves and in each other qualities of forgiveness, compassion, and virtue. Our love will provide us with the determination to be ourselves while cherishing each other's uniqueness. We promise to share in each other's aspirations and empower each other to fulfill our goals and pursue our dreams. We will create a closeness that will enable us to express our innermost thoughts and feelings. We promise to treasure and nourish one another; to be sensitive at all times to each other's needs; to talk and to listen; to honor, respect and appreciate one another. We promise to always be honest and open; to support each other through life's challenges; to comfort one another through life's sorrows; to share with each other life's joys. We will build a home together and fill it with laughter, empathy, faith, imagination, trust, friendship, companionship and love. A home in which holidays and traditions are celebrated in accordance with our heritages; a home devoted to learning, charity, and acts of kindness; a home where all are welcome. We will build a family and provide for its physical and emotional needs. We will teach our family courtesy and compassion and we will be role models for the values we teach our children. May our lives blossom together; our souls woven tight in the deepest of intimacy. It is Valid and binding.

Because you have so affirmed in love and knowledge one of the other, so also do I declare that Isabell and Todd are now husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.

We conclude this ceremony with the traditional breaking of the glass. Breaking this glass symbolizes the permanent change this marriage covenant makes in your lives. The fragility of the glass suggests the frailty of human relationships. May the breaking of this glass remind you of the fragility of human relationships. A broken glass cannot be mended, and likewise marriage is irrevocable. As this glass shatters, so may your marriage never break. May your bond of love be as difficult to break as it would be to put together the pieces of this glass. Knowing that this marriage is permanent, you should strive to show each other the love and respect befitting their spouse and love of their life.

Mazel Tov - Glückwünsche - Congratulations!

4 Kislev 5763