While I have only met Rabbi Ben socially, Rabbi Shosh co-officiated my June 2022 wedding (with a Ukrainian Catholic Priest). Her thoughtful guidance and deep care made planning our ceremony the best part of our wedding prep and our favorite component of the wedding day.

Rabbi Shosh met with us several times in the months prior to our wedding (in-person and on zoom). She provided invaluable pre-marital counseling and helped us co-create an interfaith ceremony that honored my husband's Ukrainian Catholic upbringing and my Jewish faith. She was open-minded, collaborative, and easy to work with, ensuring that our ceremony incorporated both of our cultural traditions and felt uniquely us. I'm grateful we found Rabbi Shosh!

My husband and I decided to elope with very little notice and hired Rabbis Shosh and Ben a mere 4 days before the event. Despite knowing us for so little time, they did an incredible job tailoring the ceremony to us and making it feel as personal as if they’d known us for years. It was particularly sweet having both of them officiate the event together, since Rabbi Ben was able to provide music while Rabbi Shosh spoke. Rabbi Shosh was also responsible for my favorite moments of the ceremony; I’d forgotten to bring the wine up to the cliffside where we married, and Rabbi Shosh offered us the ginger/turmeric health drink she’d brought, to use instead. Whenever wine was mentioned in the ceremony, Rabbi Shosh called it ‘an Elixir of life’, or ‘a glass of Health and Longevity’, instead, and made us laugh, every time.

We found Rabbi Ben Newman through the 18Doors website as we are an interfaith couple. At first we were looking to do co-officiation with a Christian priest, and Rabbi Ben was open to doing it. He was very responsible through the process, and very organized. He also recommended doing a pre-marital counseling session that was really meaningful and helped us clarify what we truly wanted for the wedding and helped us reflect on our future family. While we eventually decided we didn't want to go with co-officiation, and so just had Ben as our only officiant, he remained extremely responsive to our particular needs as a couple. For example, the process of constructing the ceremony was one where we included elements while being free to incorporate Ben's suggestions.

When Ben performed the ceremony, it was beautiful, he brought a spiritual and moving energy. He sings beautifully. He also did a great job explaining the Jewish elements and their significance so that everyone at the ceremony could understand and connect to them. After the ceremony, we received many compliments about how it was one of the best wedding ceremonies they'd been to.