The Rehearsal Dinner
Jacob's Dad: *Giving a toast* I'm so happy that my son has found a woman to love and cherish. To this wedding, and their future lives together forever-
Eshal's Mom: Silence! I shall not let this wedding take place! This is a disgrace to me and my family, that my Eshal marry a man of such culture!
Eshal: Mother, please-
Eshal's Mom: Eshal, this man is nothing like you! He does not even practice the same religion. If he loved you, he would leave Jewish beliefs behind and follow our Islamic religion as well.
Jacob's Dad: Now hold on just a moment. Who's to say that Eshal shouldn't leave her beliefs behind out of respect for Jacob?
Jacob: Dad-
Eshal's Mom: What?! How could you even say that? Your ideas are insane! Worship on Saturday? In a place called a "synagogue"? Not to mention your crazy bible. None of it is sensible!
Jacob's Dad: Our ideas are crazy? They make just as much sense as yours! If anything, it's strange to worship on Fridays as you do. And your sacred text is the Qur'an? It's just too different ... I'm not so sure if Jacob should marry Eshal at all anymore. Besides, Judaism is so small compared to your religion, so wouldn't it make more sense for Eshal to respect this fact and support Judaism instead since Islamic is so large already?
Eshal's Mom: That should be all the more reason for Jacob to respect Islamic religion instead. We're so large, it makes sense to follow the larger religion in a situation such as this one. Something as small as your religion should be forgotten in this kind of problem. That's more fair than anything you're saying. Besides, is it not bad enough that you took our land away from us?
Jacob's Dad: What are you talking about?
Eshal's Mom: You know exactly what I am talking about! Palestine used to be a great land until you came charging in to take it away from us for your own personal gain. Making it a home for you and other Jewish people when we clearly had the authority and ownership of the land. Now you call it Israel. Ugh. It's horrible. All you try to do is try to take away what's rightfully ours!
Jacob's Dad: It was not our fault in the first place! Once World War II was finally over we had nowhere else to go! Our supporting countries were the ones who placed us here and we needed it more anyways. It was finally a safe place for us to stay. That was, until you got angry with us. You can't be mad with us when all you do is try to deny our need for freedom and independence.
Eshal's Mom: I think at this point, the Holy Land is more important to us! The War is over and your culture is already spreading through here, Europe, and the USA. All we have for our beliefs is what little is left here for us and parts of Southeast Asia. You don't need so much of our land anymore. This is our home, not yours.
Jacob's Dad: Honestly, you already have enough to make a living here obviously. So it's not like you need more land. You already have ownership of natural resources that we don't have ownership of. It makes you rich enough that none of this land will actually help you anymore than those natural resources do.
Eshal's Mom: That shouldn't matter-
Jacob's Dad: Easy for you to say! We don't have the kind of money you have! We have to make a living through hard work every day, which was even harder when Jacob joined the military. You don't have to try and work as hard as we do everyday because you're so much higher than us on society's scale! You're rich and surely popular, what wealthy person isn't? We can easily go unnoticed just like the rest of us hard working citizens.
Jacob's Aunt Flo: Let's not forget what Muslim people did back in my own country just years ago!
Eshal's Mom: What?
J's Aunt Flo: You know, the tragic day of 9/11. You terrorized not just those towers, but the entire country because of what happened. Everyone terrified, scared in our boots. I can't let my nephew marry a women of a culture crazy enough to do that to an innocent country filled with innocent people!
Eshal: H-hey-!
Eshal's Mom: You can't target us with that! It's not my fault and it's not Eshal's fault either! It's nobody here's fault. You can't possibly blame us for something that happened years ago when none of us were involved. Just because we share a culture with those people does not mean we are like them! After that event, people like me were affected in negative ways too, not just you. Just because we're Muslim people like you give us dirty looks, and blame us, and treat us like we're absolute evil, like you're superior or something! You can't just blame an entire culture because of something someone who happens to be apart of it did.
Eshal's Uncle Hussein: *To Jacob's Aunt Flo* Not to mention that Israeli people despise us Palestinians, who happen to be a large majority of Muslims. The U.S. is too influenced by Israel, so when you talk about how horrible we are the U.S. government just assumes that you're right and tells the country about how horrible we are. Have you ever seen a news story about Muslims where they aren't the bad guys? It's pretty rare. You only say that stuff because it's what the U.S. government spoon feeds you.
Jacob's Dad: Hey well-
Jacob: Everyone STOP!
Eshal: Mother, uncle Hussein.. If you can't respect Jacob and his family's beliefs, culture, and religion, then I'm going to have to ask you to not come to the wedding.
Jacob: And the same goes for you too father and aunt Flo.
Eshal's Mom: What?!
Jacob's Dad: W-wait...!
Eshal: You disregard everything they say and you don't them right. It's not their fault they call this Holy Land their home now too. And even if it was, they still share it with and us and they still need it, just like us.
Jacob: Nothing you say will make us love each other any less or make us cancel the wedding. What you believe is just that, your beliefs. But you don't see us knocking you guys down because of what you think of each other. You don't have to come to the wedding and we don't have to visit you if you don't want Eshal around.
Eshal: And if you don't like Jacob, you can stop visiting me so you don't have to see him. It's your choice, but if you can't respect our decisions as adults of choosing each other, then we're going to have to ban you from the wedding.
Eshal's Mom + Jacob's Dad: .....
Jacob: Well?
Eshal's Mom: F-fine. I'll try to be more accepting of the situation...
Jacob's Dad: Me too... I'm sorry.
Eshal: I'm glad we've reached an agreement. Now let's continue!
*The wedding rehearsal continues, and the families ever so slowly start to get along better. But not without arguments and debates here and there."
Eshal's Mom: Silence! I shall not let this wedding take place! This is a disgrace to me and my family, that my Eshal marry a man of such culture!
Eshal: Mother, please-
Eshal's Mom: Eshal, this man is nothing like you! He does not even practice the same religion. If he loved you, he would leave Jewish beliefs behind and follow our Islamic religion as well.
Jacob's Dad: Now hold on just a moment. Who's to say that Eshal shouldn't leave her beliefs behind out of respect for Jacob?
Jacob: Dad-
Eshal's Mom: What?! How could you even say that? Your ideas are insane! Worship on Saturday? In a place called a "synagogue"? Not to mention your crazy bible. None of it is sensible!
Jacob's Dad: Our ideas are crazy? They make just as much sense as yours! If anything, it's strange to worship on Fridays as you do. And your sacred text is the Qur'an? It's just too different ... I'm not so sure if Jacob should marry Eshal at all anymore. Besides, Judaism is so small compared to your religion, so wouldn't it make more sense for Eshal to respect this fact and support Judaism instead since Islamic is so large already?
Eshal's Mom: That should be all the more reason for Jacob to respect Islamic religion instead. We're so large, it makes sense to follow the larger religion in a situation such as this one. Something as small as your religion should be forgotten in this kind of problem. That's more fair than anything you're saying. Besides, is it not bad enough that you took our land away from us?
Jacob's Dad: What are you talking about?
Eshal's Mom: You know exactly what I am talking about! Palestine used to be a great land until you came charging in to take it away from us for your own personal gain. Making it a home for you and other Jewish people when we clearly had the authority and ownership of the land. Now you call it Israel. Ugh. It's horrible. All you try to do is try to take away what's rightfully ours!
Jacob's Dad: It was not our fault in the first place! Once World War II was finally over we had nowhere else to go! Our supporting countries were the ones who placed us here and we needed it more anyways. It was finally a safe place for us to stay. That was, until you got angry with us. You can't be mad with us when all you do is try to deny our need for freedom and independence.
Eshal's Mom: I think at this point, the Holy Land is more important to us! The War is over and your culture is already spreading through here, Europe, and the USA. All we have for our beliefs is what little is left here for us and parts of Southeast Asia. You don't need so much of our land anymore. This is our home, not yours.
Jacob's Dad: Honestly, you already have enough to make a living here obviously. So it's not like you need more land. You already have ownership of natural resources that we don't have ownership of. It makes you rich enough that none of this land will actually help you anymore than those natural resources do.
Eshal's Mom: That shouldn't matter-
Jacob's Dad: Easy for you to say! We don't have the kind of money you have! We have to make a living through hard work every day, which was even harder when Jacob joined the military. You don't have to try and work as hard as we do everyday because you're so much higher than us on society's scale! You're rich and surely popular, what wealthy person isn't? We can easily go unnoticed just like the rest of us hard working citizens.
Jacob's Aunt Flo: Let's not forget what Muslim people did back in my own country just years ago!
Eshal's Mom: What?
J's Aunt Flo: You know, the tragic day of 9/11. You terrorized not just those towers, but the entire country because of what happened. Everyone terrified, scared in our boots. I can't let my nephew marry a women of a culture crazy enough to do that to an innocent country filled with innocent people!
Eshal: H-hey-!
Eshal's Mom: You can't target us with that! It's not my fault and it's not Eshal's fault either! It's nobody here's fault. You can't possibly blame us for something that happened years ago when none of us were involved. Just because we share a culture with those people does not mean we are like them! After that event, people like me were affected in negative ways too, not just you. Just because we're Muslim people like you give us dirty looks, and blame us, and treat us like we're absolute evil, like you're superior or something! You can't just blame an entire culture because of something someone who happens to be apart of it did.
Eshal's Uncle Hussein: *To Jacob's Aunt Flo* Not to mention that Israeli people despise us Palestinians, who happen to be a large majority of Muslims. The U.S. is too influenced by Israel, so when you talk about how horrible we are the U.S. government just assumes that you're right and tells the country about how horrible we are. Have you ever seen a news story about Muslims where they aren't the bad guys? It's pretty rare. You only say that stuff because it's what the U.S. government spoon feeds you.
Jacob's Dad: Hey well-
Jacob: Everyone STOP!
Eshal: Mother, uncle Hussein.. If you can't respect Jacob and his family's beliefs, culture, and religion, then I'm going to have to ask you to not come to the wedding.
Jacob: And the same goes for you too father and aunt Flo.
Eshal's Mom: What?!
Jacob's Dad: W-wait...!
Eshal: You disregard everything they say and you don't them right. It's not their fault they call this Holy Land their home now too. And even if it was, they still share it with and us and they still need it, just like us.
Jacob: Nothing you say will make us love each other any less or make us cancel the wedding. What you believe is just that, your beliefs. But you don't see us knocking you guys down because of what you think of each other. You don't have to come to the wedding and we don't have to visit you if you don't want Eshal around.
Eshal: And if you don't like Jacob, you can stop visiting me so you don't have to see him. It's your choice, but if you can't respect our decisions as adults of choosing each other, then we're going to have to ban you from the wedding.
Eshal's Mom + Jacob's Dad: .....
Jacob: Well?
Eshal's Mom: F-fine. I'll try to be more accepting of the situation...
Jacob's Dad: Me too... I'm sorry.
Eshal: I'm glad we've reached an agreement. Now let's continue!
*The wedding rehearsal continues, and the families ever so slowly start to get along better. But not without arguments and debates here and there."