Jewish couple sets world record as world's oldest newlyweds

A centenarian Jewish couple from Pennsylvania broke the world record for oldest newlyweds.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 14, 2024 02:59

Barnie Lipman marries Margery in Philadelphia. May 19, 2024. (photo credit: Sarah Sicherman)

Marjorie Fiterman, 102, and Bernie Littman, 100, were officially declared the world’s oldest newlyweds on December 3 by Guinness World Records.

The two lovebirds tied the knot on May 19, 2024, after being in a relationship for nine years. They met at a party at the nursing home they live in near Philadelphia and went on a romantic date that same day, Littman's granddaughter Sarah Sicherman told TODAY.com.

The couple's families submitted their story to Guinness on their behalf. Sicherman told TODAY.com that sharing the joy the couple feels with the world has been half of the fun. 

“It’s adorable that they have decided to do this … and fun for us as the family to be able to share this with everybody — to have this kind of joyous news during a time when things are just really crazy in the world."

The two realized that they wanted to get married after Fiterman had a bad fall and broke her leg. 

Spur of the moment

“There was kind of that moment of ‘I don’t want to live without you,’ and so it was just a ‘Why don’t we get married?’ sort of thing,” Sicherman told TODAY.com. 

“It was kind of spur of the moment," Sicherman continued. "At first, we thought that it was a joke, but then they just continued to go through with it and took all the necessary steps.”

This is Littman's and Fiterman's second marriage. The latter lost his first wife in 2021 after 65 years of marriage. 

The pair were married in a traditional Jewish wedding under a chuppah with 10 of their loved ones surrounding them.

"The fact that they [Littman and Fiterman] found love again is heartwarming. To look at them is to see two people whose smiles are evidence of the love they enjoy being in each other's presence," Rabbi Adam Wohlberg, who officiated the wedding, wrote on Facebook. 

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"It isn't often that I am asked to preside at the wedding of a bride and groom who have each lived for more than a century (actually, this is the only time it has ever happened) or for someone who has been part of my congregation for more than 65 years," Wohlberg added.

NBC noted that Littman, who uses a wheelchair, was able to stand and break a glass at the end of the wedding ceremony, in accordance with Jewish customs. 

All the festivities aside, the Guinness record didn't matter to the couple, Sicherman told TODAY.com. 

"They’re just happy enjoying their time together."