The Rituals Of Jewish Weddings - Truly Traditional And Cultural
Different methods are followed all over the world
, in many different cultures are dealt with by different people to celebrate a variety of events. Marriage is one of the most colorful event celebrated by all cultures, when you get to see the celebration of other cultures, one, it is a real treat.
In a society there are many cultures living together. The best part of democracy is that one gets to meet people of various cultures and get a chance to participate or watch their events and festivals. Weddings too become all the more colorful and one will get to see the different rituals followed in different cultures. It might not be quite common for one to attend Jewish weddings and so if one gets a chance do make the best of it and one will see a lot of historic and traditional rituals that the Jewish couple performs during their wedding. Before the wedding there is the Ketubah ceremony that is similar to the engagement ceremonies followed in other cultures. This event has the husband to write down a set of responsibilities that will be taken care of by him and the signature of two witnesses makes it official. It might also consist of the will, which will be taken into consideration after the death of the individual. This is a very serious decision and once signed cannot be broken under Jewish laws. Many people decorate and hang the Ketubah in the accommodations too as a sign of harmony and marital bliss which will also remind the person of the responsibilities.
The ceremonies prior to the Jewish weddings are known as Kabbalat Panim during which the bride and the groom are kept separately to complete their respective rituals. During the Bedecken ceremony the groom goes to where the bride is and takes the veil off her face. This has a reference to the mythological belief when Jacob accidentally married Leah, the sister of Rachel, the woman whom he actually loved. After this the bride and the groom enter a canopy and are seated next to each other. The canopy is a reference to the home these two will make and after that the groom reads the Katubah and after reading hands it over to the bride which finally declares them officially as husband and wife. Then further blessings are read by the Rabbi and with the break of glass and the shout of Mazel Tov the ceremonies are over and give way to celebrations.