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Part 4: Wedding celebration
When her father, John, announced the harvest would begin in 2 days, Sarabek and her mother, Naomi, walked to the nearest neighbor and set in motion all the final preparations for the wedding feast. The word spread throughout the valley and everyone from the smallest child to the oldest grandmother had a task, for Sarabek’s family was loved by all who knew them. Her mother had attended many of the women in childbirth and her help would be repaid with love.
The grapes began to be harvested and her father chose the baskets carefully, starting with the ripest. Her brothers prepared the wooden vats for crushing, the baskets for pressing, and the clay pots to receive the new wine. The crushers then gathered and after ceremonial washing of the feet, the work began. The grapes were plentiful and as the new wine came forth, her father sampled and said he believed it was the best harvest in many years.
Ten days later, the harvest, crushing and pressing were complete. The vats and baskets had been cleared and the new wine was stored in the cave that held the wine and food harvested for winter. The men took a day of rest, gathering to worship and thank the Lord for blessing. The flocks had come down from the mountain and were headed for winter quarters. The women and girls had completed the last of the preparations for the wedding feast and the men set the lambs to roasting. All was in readiness.
That afternoon, Sarabek’s father gathered the family and said it was time. They all put on their fine clothes and as the sun set, torches were lit and the men began the walk through the valley to gather the wedding party.
First they went to family and friends on the outskirts and as the men and boys joined the groom, the women and girls headed for Sarabek’s house with the food prepared for the feast.
The men stopped for the elders and then went to the bride’s home where she, her family, and her friends waited. The groom called for her and her father brought her out. As musicians played songs of praise, they all proceeded to Sarabek’s home where the elders blessed the couple and the feast began. It went on all night and into the next day. Sarabek and her mother and their friends served and ate themselves with the women, talking about the beauty of the bride. Sometime before the break of day, as was the custom, the groom took his bride away to their new home with the whole village singing and blessing them as they walked through the vineyard. Sarabek thought she had never seen a more beautiful smile as her new sister had when she left with her groom. “I hope I’m that happy when I marry,” she thought. Her friends felt the same way. It was then that she, Ruth, and Judith gathered their mothers to talk about their hoped-for visit. Their mothers smiled and said in 2 days, after the cleaning was done, they could be together at Ruth’s home. The girls went back to the feasting, excited and happy.
Next: News from friends
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