Mazel Tov!

National Freedom to Marry Day arrives two days before Valentine's Day this year, and by way of local observation, San Francisco Supervisor Leslie Katz will present a mayoral declaration recognizing the date, followed by a reception and forum for supporters of same-sex marriage. The city has already held a mass-marriage ceremony for gay and lesbian couples, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform) recently voted to support civil ceremonies for same-gender couples; the Hawaiian Supreme Court ruling on the rights of lesbians and gays to marry is still pending. But juggling comic performer Sara Felder is way ahead of all that; she married her longtime partner Devra years ago, and lived to tell the tale in her one-woman show June Bride (Just a Traditional Jewish Lesbian Wedding.) Like Fiddler on the Roof's patriarch Tevye, Felder finds that changing times make marriage an even more complicated undertaking than usual, and to emphasize how tricky it is to stage a traditional Jewish wedding for an urban lesbian couple, she juggles balls and knives as she describes the progression from first date to wedding day, and struggles against the confines of a straitjacket while she recalls coming out to her parents. The show, directed by Jayne Wenger, previews Thursday at 8 p.m. (and runs through March 1) at A Traveling Jewish Theater, 2800 Mariposa (at Florida), S.F. Admission is $15-25; call 399-1809. Post-performance discussions include "Jewish Weddings: Changing Traditions" with Rabbi Alan Lew Feb. 15, and "The Politics of Same-Gender Marriage" with Supervisor Tom Ammiano Feb. 20; National Freedom to Marry Day events begin at 3 p.m. Feb. 12 in City Hall's Room 207; call 681-1960 for more information.

-- Heather Wisner