It's official. Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , is going to marry 'a nice Jewish boy', Marc Mezvinsky. Clionton met her boyfriend Mezvinsky when both were teenagers in Washington.

The first question that popped into my mind on hearing this breaking news was whether Chelsea will change her name to Mezvinsky? I figure that it's not very likely because the name Mezvinsky sounds a lot like Lewinsky.

My next thought was whether the news of Chelsea's upcoming nuptials, could be a bonanza for the Jewish Federation system of North America.?

I bet you Chelsea would be great on the phone for her local "Super Sunday," canvassing for  Jewish charities. Everyone would answer her call, rather than trying to duck it.

Better yet, wouldn't it be great if the Jewish Federations of North America could get her to lead a mission to Israel? Just think of how many people would sign up !!!

The reports say that the young couple is looking at a possible wedding next summer. 
I hope someone tells Chelsea not to book the wedding too close to T'isha Be'Av, (which would be kind of tacky) and also not to book it too near Rahm Emanuel's son's bar-mitzvah at the Western Wall (some of the guest list might overlap).

Maybe Chelsea would consider actually getting married while on a mission to Israel.  It would boost the Israeli tourist economy, and her mother and some of her mother's friends might be in the region anyway trying to boost stalled peace talks.

Then I started wondering which Jewish organizations will be the first to conduct outreach to Chelsea? Will Aish Hatorah get  to her first?  Will some Jewish group convince Chelsea to convert to Judaism?  Wouldn't that be a coup?

And what about children?  Will Chelsea's children get a Jewish education?. If she has a son, will he get a briss?  Will Bill Clinton be the sandak?

Will the children  call their grandparents "Baba Hillary" and 'Zeida Bill".?

Will Chelsea go to synagogue on the High Holy Days? If so, will she feel compelled to stay until the very end of the service, or will she sneak out kind of early like many Jews  do?

According to the New York Jewish newspaper the Forward, it is not clear whether the mixed-faith young couple will choose to have both Christian and Jewish clergy at their ceremony. Chelsea Clinton, however, was seen attending High Holy Day services with her fiance at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Conservative Judaism's flagship academic institution.


Mezvinsky is a son of former Pennsylvania Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky and former Iowa Rep. Ed Mezvinsky, longtime friends of the Clintons.

Ed Mezvinsky was released from federal prison last year after serving a nearly five-year sentence for wire and bank fraud (he was charged with 69 counts of fraud, ken-a-hora!! If I had been the prosecutor, I think I probably would have rounded the charges up to 70).

When I heard about Mezvinsky's record, I thought that that's actually kind of nice for Bill Clinton—since, by comparison to Chelsea's father in law, his indiscretions, appear not terribly serious.

Mezvinsky's mother, Margolies-Mezvinsky served just one term in Congress before losing her seat in 1994 after voting in favor of President Clinton's 1993 budget, which was controversial at the time.


THE CLINTON WEDDING AND THE AKANSAS JEWISH FEDERATION

When I heard of the news of Chelsea's wedding, I thought of four Jewish Community representatives from Arkansas that I met recently in Washington at the General Assembly of  Jewish Federations of North America [GA].

At the GA,  I asked Anne Miller, President of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, whether she knew Bill Clinton.

She laughed, and said "Know him, half of the Jewish community of Arkansas worked for him!!! Yes, I've met him…Bill captivated Arkansas."

Bonnie Nickol, a GA delegate from Arkansas, confirmed that she had worked for Clinton and  also  had met Hillary.

In the midst of  chuckling,  Miller assured the Winnipeg Jewish Review in answer to an inquiry , however, that to the best of her knowledge no one in the Arkansas Jewish Federation system has ever had an affair with Bill Clinton.

The Jewish community of Arkansas barely numbers 2000, and their new executive director, Susanne Berkovits had been working for Hadassah but after the Madoff scandal and  financial cut-backs, she was laid-off.

"Susan came to work for us in Arkansas. We are so lucky to have her,' said Berkovitz, who noted their last campaign totaled $ 280,000.

My question to Miller and Berkovitz is whether the Arkansas Jewish Federation is going to offer to sponsor some sort of function for the Clinton-Mezvinky wedding.
Maybe a brunch?

If they are, a few of us from the Winnipeg Jewish Review will attend.


P.S.  By the way, Miller informed the Winnipeg Jewish Review that the Arkansas community doesn't have a Jewish newspaper. "We're too small of a community," she said.

And that is why The Winnipeg Jewish Review, welcomes any and all readers from the Jewish community of Arkansas.  (A special hello to Miller and Berkovitz who have joined our readership !)