What Are Jewish Marriage Customs?

The Jewish wedding ceremony is a complex and spiritually significant event that combines two formerly separate ceremonies: erusin (betrothal) and nissuin (marriage). The erusin ceremony begins when the bride and groom reach the huppah, and if the wedding is at night, they should fast until after nightfall. The bride wears a white wedding gown, reflecting the dignity of Jewish women and adhering to modesty standards.

The Jewish wedding ceremony is a tapestry woven from biblical, historical, mystical, cultural, and legal threads passed down through generations. The bedeken ceremony recalls the matriarch’s gesture of modesty at seeing her bridegroom, inspiring them to emulate their biblical forebears in their married lives. The legal codes of the Torah provide for marriage and divorce, and the marriage bond as a prerequisite for sexual relations.

A common Jewish wedding tradition is the signing of the ketubah, or marriage contract, which is typically held shortly before the actual wedding ceremony. The couple chooses two witnesses (not blood relatives) to sign the ketubah with them, and a rabbi or officiant and close family members are also present.

The ceremony includes two distinct rituals: the betrothal (kiddushin) and the completion of the marriage itself (niusin). In kiddushin, the bride accepts symbolic payment and a signed contract or ketubah from the groom, usually made with a ring.

In Jewish law, a marriage becomes official when the groom gives an object of value to the bride, traditionally done with a ring. The inclusion of precious stones produces significant spiritual significance.

What happens in a bedding ceremony?

In Game of Thrones, a bedding ceremony happens in several episodes. It is a tradition in Westeros where guests undress and carry the newlyweds to bed after the wedding feast. The bedding ritual celebrates a marriage. The King himself drew the curtains at the wedding of King Charles II’s niece and nephew. The Mayor of Stockholm led the bride in Stockholm in 1416. In 1528, the Swedish king Gustav Vasa performed the role at the wedding of his servant. Bailey & Barclay 2017, p.44. Bailey & Barclay 2017, p.45. Monger 2004, p.23. Monger 2004, p.24.Korpiola 2009, p.61; Stone 1992, p.22; Stone 1992, p.163; Bailey & Barclay 2017, p.47; Bailey & Barclay 2017, p.48; Korpiola 2009, p.60; Korpiola 2009, p.62; Bailey & Barclay 2017, p.55; Lucas 2015.

What do Jews get married under?

A chuppah is the canopy under which Jewish couples are married. The chuppah represents a couple’s new home together. It also represents God’s presence and blessing. A chuppah can be a tallit (prayer shawl) or a large piece of fabric attached to poles. Some wedding venues have structures that can serve as a chuppah and be decorated by a florist. The chuppah shows that couples should be open with each other and that new marriages need support. Watch the Bimbam video below for more on this topic.

What is the 6th hour of the day for Jews?

Noon is another feature of this ancient practice. Unlike the modern 12-hour clock, the ancient Jewish tradition says noon is the sixth hour of the day. The first hour begins with the break of dawn.

Relative hour (Hebrew: shaʿah zǝmanit / שעה זמנית; plural: The term shaʿot – zǝmaniyot (sometimes called halachic hour, temporal hour, seasonal hour, and variable hour) is used in rabbinic Jewish law to describe the 12 hours of each day and night throughout the year. A relative hour is not the same length each day. It depends on the season. A day is always divided into 12 hours, and a night is always divided into 12 hours. This makes for a longer or shorter hour. At Mediterranean latitude, one hour can be about 45 minutes at the winter solstice, and 75 minutes at summer solstice. All of the hours mentioned by the Sages in either the Mishnah or Talmud, or in other rabbinic writings, refer to relative hours. Another feature of this ancient practice is that noon was always the sixth hour of the day. The first hour began with the break of dawn or sunrise. Midnight was also the sixth hour of the night. It came before or after 12:00 am local official clock time, depending on the season. The first hour of the night always began after sunset. During the spring and autumn equinoxes, the day and night are equal in length. Even during the summer and winter solstices, when day and night are longest, they are still divided into 12 hours.

What are Jewish ideas about marriage?

In Judaism, marriage is holy and is a way of fulfilling the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. Two souls become one. A man leaves his parents and joins with his wife, becoming one flesh.

How do Jews consummate marriage?

This word means “seclusion.” It’s a private affair. After the wedding, the couple goes to a private room for 15 minutes to stare at each other. In the past, the bride and groom went to a tent to consummate the marriage. This is not done much these days, but newlyweds usually share a bite to eat.

Private Moment. I thought it would be romantic to have a few private moments with my husband before joining the party. So we did this. We had two chairs and a small table with champagne. This was set up on a small point jutting into the river. From the point, we could look back at the party and reflect. After the ceremony, I took off my wedding shoes and put on sneakers so we could walk through the woods to “Wedding Point.” (We got married at my parents’ house, so we call it Wedding Point.)

What are the customs of a Jewish wedding?

A Jewish wedding follows Jewish laws and traditions. A Jewish wedding has some common features. These include a ketubah (marriage contract), a chuppah (wedding canopy), a ring given to the bride under the canopy, and breaking a glass. The Jewish wedding process has two stages. The first is kiddushin (betrothal) and nissuin (marriage). This is when the couple start their life together. In the first stage, the woman is forbidden to other men. This requires a get to end it. In the second stage, the couple can marry each other. The ceremony that makes a marriage legal is called a chuppah. Today, erusin/kiddushin happens when the groom gives the bride a ring or other valuable object to show that they are married. Some say the ceremony starts with the groom giving the bride a ring or other object of value. Others say it starts with the couple being alone together in a room. Erusin/kiddushin has changed from a time when the man prepared to marry his wife to the first part of the wedding ceremony. These two events could take place up to a year apart, but they are now often combined.

What is the most important part of a Jewish wedding?

Signing the ketubah. The ketubah is a Jewish marriage contract that outlines the groom’s responsibilities to his bride. It sets out what the groom must provide for the bride, what the bride can do, and what happens if the couple divorce. Ketubahs are not religious documents. They are part of Jewish civil law, so they do not mention God blessing the union. The ketubah is signed by the couple and two witnesses before the ceremony. It is read to the guests during the ceremony.

Bedeken. The groom veils the bride during the ketubah signing. He looks at her and covers her face. This shows that he loves her for who she is, not just her appearance. It’s also a tradition from the Bible where Jacob was tricked into marrying the sister of the woman he loved because she was veiled. If the groom does the veiling, trickery can’t happen.

Walk to the Chuppah. Jewish ceremonies have a different order for the processional and recessional than non-Jewish ceremonies. In Jewish tradition, both of the groom’s parents walk him down the aisle to the chuppah, the altar where the couple exchanges vows. Then the bride and her parents follow. Both sets of parents stand under the chuppah during the ceremony, along with the bride, groom, and rabbi.

Why does the bride circle the groom seven times?

The groom is the center of the new Jewish home. He is the first to stand under the chuppah. The bride’s circling of the groom symbolizes their new world together. She goes around seven times, showing that she is the foundation of the home and that her husband-to-be is the foundation of their family. Then she stands with her husband-to-be in the center of the circle. Once the house is built, the husband and wife stand in the middle, surrounded by the walls the wife made. A man without a wife is without Torah. The Tikkunei Zohar explains that the first letters of the words for “woman” and “man,” nun and gimmel, add up to 53, which is the number of Torah parshiot. Some say that the seven circuits of the bride bring the number up to 60, which is the number of books in the Mishnah. So, the seven circuits connect the Torah and Mishnah. What does this have to do with a wedding? The Talmud says that a man who lives without a wife lives without Torah. So, her circling shows that his Torah accomplishments are due to her.