A Jewish Wedding Story | Mayya & Jacob | Neshamah Institute

Growing Up Together

Celebrating Mayya & Jacob’s Jewish Wedding

Officiated by Rabbi Amy Rader | The Neshamah Institute, Boca Raton, FL

There is a particular kind of love that does not arrive in a single thunderclap moment. It builds slowly, over semesters and seasons, over shared meals and late-night phone calls, over the long, unglamorous work of learning how to be an adult alongside someone else. That is the kind of love Mayya and Jacob have built. And watching them stand under the chuppah, it was impossible not to feel the weight and the beauty of everything that had come before.

Where It Started

Mayya and Jacob met in college, at that particular moment in life when everything feels new and uncertain and full of possibility. Mayya was a sophomore, a little scared to have left home, still figuring out who she would become. Jacob was a freshman, finding his footing in a new place. And then they found each other.

As Mayya put it when she and Rabbi Amy first spoke: Jacob opened up a new side of me I did not know I had. She learned to step outside her comfort zone, to be more open-minded, to embrace adventure. And Jacob, in turn, learned to lighten up, to laugh, to be a little goofy in the very best way.

They moved in together during COVID, junior year, and began tackling all the things that come with sharing a life: figuring out who handles the cleaning (Mayya) and who handles the cooking (Jacob, and apparently he cooks well). Navigating the ongoing, loving negotiation about whether Sour Patch Kids count as food. Building the rhythms and the rituals that make a home feel like home.

Croatia and the Number 888

Last August, Jacob planned a proposal in Croatia on what both of them describe as the best trip they have ever taken. He had picked the perfect spot, the perfect moment. The only problem was that he got the time change wrong, and they arrived late.

Somehow, that made it even more perfectly “them.” When they finally got there and Jacob asked Mayya to marry him, everything was magical. Their favorite number, 888, seemed to follow them everywhere across that trip. It felt, as Mayya said, meant to be.

And then came the real test. Two years of long distance, the kind that either proves a relationship or breaks it. For Mayya and Jacob, those nightly phone calls became sacred. Even miles apart, they would talk about their days, decompress together, watch the same shows. They stayed close across the distance, and when they finally landed in the same city, they were more ready than ever.

What They See in Each Other

One of the things Rabbi Amy loves most about officiating weddings is hearing how couples talk about each other. Not in formal language, but in the specific, honest, tender way people describe the person they have chosen for life.

Mayya values Jacob’s decisiveness. When she cannot decide, he steps in. She values his cooking, which means she has never had to worry about going hungry. And she values the way he shows up, steadily, every day, the kind of presence you can build a life around.

Jacob values Mayya’s drive. She motivates him. She keeps him from being too hard on himself. She pays attention to whether he is eating well and taking care of himself. And she has brought her whole world into his life, including Russian food from Irina and Lev’s kitchen, which he now loves.

Together, they are a team. They make each other laugh. They are silly together. They balance each other beautifully. And they are ready for what comes next: kids, the move to DC in two years, the dream trips to Paris and Greece and Israel, and all the ordinary evenings in between, the nightly walks around the neighborhood, the shared meals, the quiet moments that are the actual texture of a life well lived.

What the Chuppah Represents

In Jewish tradition, the chuppah is the first home a couple builds together. It is open on all sides, which is not an accident. It is a home that welcomes guests, that faces the world with open arms, that is defined not by walls but by the people inside it.

Mayya and Jacob have been building that home for years already. They know how to live together. They know each other’s rhythms and quirks and needs. They have weathered the tests. They have done the growing.

Today, as Rabbi Amy said under the chuppah, was not about becoming something new. It was about honoring what they had already built, and promising to keep building it, with intention, with commitment, and with the same laughter and goofiness and partnership that had gotten them this far.

A Blessing

May your home always be filled with laughter and good food, healthy food, Mayya, but maybe with room for the occasional Sour Patch Kid. May your nightly walks continue to be sacred time where you decompress and dream together. May you keep motivating each other, caring for each other, making each other better.

May you travel to all the places you dream about. May you build the family you are hoping for. And may you remember, always, that the greatest adventure is not in Croatia or Paris or anywhere else. It is in choosing each other, every single day.

Mazel Tov, Mayya and Jacob. Let’s celebrate this beautiful beginning.