Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a matched gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
The Schmooze

Clintons: Surviving as MOTB, FOTB and Converting

“If you can survive being an MOTB, being the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism seems like a relief,” Hillary Clinton quipped recently to fellow MOTB – Mother of the Bride – U.S. Special Envoy To Combat Antisemitism Hannah Rosenthal at an event honoring Rosenthal in Washington.

Clinton has been taking time from Middle East policy to help her daughter Chelsea with tastings and dress fittings for her upcoming wedding to Marc Mezvinsky on July 31. Specifics of the wedding have been kept so quiet that “details are harder to ferret out than the president’s Afghanistan strategy,” the New York Times Style Section declared this Sunday.

One of the hottest debates surrounding the wedding is will Chelsea, a practicing Methodist, convert for Mezvinsky, an observant Jew. But just like the exact location of the wedding (rumored to be Rhinebeck, NY) and the designer of Chelsea’s dress (likely Oscar de la Renta or Vera Wang) no one really knows.

Close to 500 guests are expected to attend the wedding. The guest list includes Hillary’s boss along with Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey. Chelsea is making sure all attendees have a personal tie to the bride or groom.

As for the FOTB, Bill Clinton, he’s just a big ball of mush. “I am going to try not to cry,” he said on a recent trip to South Africa. Bill’s also been instructed by his little girl to lose 15 pounds if he wants to walk her down the aisle. (Ouch!) Looks like Chelsea is developing real chutzpah. Maybe she is ready to convert?!

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.