"You are hereby consecrated to me with this [ring], according to the law of Moses and Israel.” (from the Jewish wedding ceremony)

When they reach their big day as bride and groom, most Jewish Israelis still marry under a rabbi, under proper Jewish law. While Israeli law does not allow civil marriages, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) shows that only 1,128 Jewish couples took the trouble to go abroad in 2011 to marry in a civil ceremony. By contrast, 38,936 Jewish couples married that same year in the rabbinate.

In a social survey taken by the CBS in 2009, only 72.3% of 20- to 24-year-olds stated that it was very important to them that within their family, the marriage ceremony be conducted by a rabbi, and only 38.5% of secular Jews declared this. Nevertheless, as aforesaid, most Israelis exhibit conservatism: While they do not observe the Sabbath or keep kosher or observe the commandments or fast on Yom Kippur — when they get married, they decide to stick to tradition and enact the Jewish hupa ceremony as prescribed by Jewish law.

“I grew up in a totally secular household,” says Tal (full name withheld), a 27-year-old man who lives in the center of Israel and is in a long-term relationship. “But I will marry in a religious framework. I am not a big rebel type, I won’t seek a civil process and go against religion. That is what is accepted, that is what everyone does and that is what I will do.”