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Melanie Conklin - State Journal

Veiled bride Chanie Matusof and groom Nissi Gansbourg celebrate their traditional Chasidic wedding Tuesday under the Chupah, or wedding canopy, at the Marriott Madison West in Middleton. Holding the microphone is the bride's brother, Rabbi Mendel Matusof.

MADISON, WI — Both bride and groom wore flowing white. Receptions were held before and after the marriage ceremony — actually an intricate series of ceremonies — which was held outside despite a chilly wind Tuesday evening, to be under open sky.

Chasidic Jewish wedding a historic Madison event

Melanie Conklin – State Journal

Veiled bride Chanie Matusof and groom Nissi Gansbourg celebrate their traditional Chasidic wedding Tuesday under the Chupah, or wedding canopy, at the Marriott Madison West in Middleton. Holding the microphone is the bride’s brother, Rabbi Mendel Matusof.

MADISON, WI — Both bride and groom wore flowing white. Receptions were held before and after the marriage ceremony — actually an intricate series of ceremonies — which was held outside despite a chilly wind Tuesday evening, to be under open sky.

A plate and glass were smashed. And men and women were separated for much of this wedding celebration at the Marriott Madison West in Middleton.

The marriage of Chanie Matusof, of Madison, and Nissi Gansbourg, of Montreal, was a deeply traditional Chasidic Jewish wedding.

It may have been the first of its kind here — the closest most Madisonians have come to experiencing anything similar may be watching “Fiddler on the Roof. ”

“It is rare, ” said Rabbi Matusof of the Chabad House on Regent Street, the father of the bride, who officiated. “Just ask the staff here and they ‘ll tell you they ‘ve never seen anything like it before. ”

“My parents have been here in Wisconsin for 40 years, ” added Rabbi Mendel Shmotkin, of the Milwaukee-based group Lubavitch of Wisconsin. “This is definitely the first Chasidic wedding that Madison has ever seen. This is historic. ”

Chasidism is a traditional Jewish movement steeped in mysticism that originated in Eastern Europe in the 18th century.

Striking upon entering the hotel were the large number of men in traditional Chasidic dress: dark suits, long beards and black hats over their skull caps.

Following tradition, the bride and groom had not seen one another for a week leading up to the wedding. Also by tradition, the couple have never touched, safeguarding the preciousness of physical intimacy. (Indeed, unrelated men and women at the wedding greeted one another with a warm “Mazel Tov ” rather than shaking hands or hugging.)

Chanie Matusof, 21, said she was introduced to Gansbourg, 24, by her sister-in-law, who is the groom ‘s first cousin. They dated just long enough to plan the wedding — about four months, she said.

“The families go through the vetting process, ” Shmotkin said. “There ‘s a lot of heavy detective work that goes on to try and ascertain if the people ‘s values and goals in life and personalities match. You look for compatibility. ”

The wedding began with separate receptions, called Kabbalas Ponim, where women were with the Kallah (bride), and men with the Chosson (groom).

The couple ‘s mothers entered the men ‘s hall to break a plate — symbolizing that just as the plate cannot be pieced back together, the engagement is also irreversible. Then a group of men including the groom entered the bride ‘s hall, where Gansbourg placed a veil on her head.

The Matusof family, noted one brother, is the only Chasidic family in Madison. Faygie Matusof, the bride ‘s mother, said they came to Madison in the early 1980s to run Chabad House, as ambassadors of Jewish tradition, spirituality and unity. Their synagogue welcomes Jews from all traditions, as does the campus Chabad UW house, run by their son, Rabbi Mendel Matusof.

Among the roughly 400 wedding guests were more than 50 rabbis, including one from France, another from Thailand and many from Canada.

And while the first half of the wedding was solemn, a time of personal Yom Kippur or atonement for the couple, once Gansbourg smashed the glass under the Chupah (an ornate canopy atop four poles) the crowd moved inside the hotel — changing not only venues, but moods as well.

“Next comes music and wild, raucous dancing, ” noted Shmotkin with a laugh. “It is just pure joy for their new life together.


Rabbi Yitschok Gniwisch, grandfather of the groom, was among the seven rabbis who gave blessings at the wedding – this one over a cup of wine, a symbol of joy and abundance.

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