Bashert: soul mate.
The bride was beautiful, of course. Her gorgeous dress was of white satin, and the hem and sleeves were decorated with cut-out designs. She wore a short veil with white flowers across the top. Her shoes were white satin also.
She has been living in Southern California for the last couple years or so, and met her new husband there. But she wanted to be married here because this was where she "grew up Jewish."
It is customary among the Orthodox Jews that the couple be separated during the week preceding the wedding. The bride goes to the Mikvah (ritual bath) the day before the wedding, and both the bride and groom fast the day of the wedding. A Ketubah (marriage contract) is drawn up in which the groom (chattan) makes certain promises to the bride (kallah). The ketubah spells out the contractual responsibilities of the bride and groom to each other. For example, the groom is obligated to provide her with food, clothing, shelter, and sexual satisfaction. The bride, in turn, accepts to love and honor and care for him. Did you catch that "sexual satisfaction" part? HE is responsible for HER pleasure--not the other way around.
Among the Orthodox, the bride reads the 150 Psalms before the wedding. Now this takes some doing because she is surrounded by friends and relatives who wish her happiness, and ask for the Bride's Blessing. Plus, there's the hairdresser, the makeup, the dressing, all of which take time away from reading the Tehillim. But she did it.
Eventually, the groom and his friends came to the synagogue where the bride was waiting, and the groom placed a satin veil over her head, and recited a blessing over her. The groom and his friends then went outside and waited under the Chuppah (canopy) for the bride to be escored to him by her mother and a friend to the waiting groom. The bride and her attendants circled the groom seven times.
The Rabbi made a little sermon about marriage, and mentioned that the bride had come back to her "home" synagogue to be married. Seven blessings were recited by seven men of the wedding party, while holding the kiddush cup. After that the cup was given to the groom to sip from, the bride's veil was lifted just far enough that she could take the cup and sip.
Then comes the giving of the ring and recitation of the marriage formula. Now
the ketubah was read in Aramaic and signed by the (male) witnesses to the wedding. The ketubah is handed to the groom, who then hands it to the bride. It is a sacred and legal document that the bride cares for with great security.
After all this a glass wrapped (to prevent glass from spraying the witnesses) was given to the groom to break my stomping on it, which is reminder of the destroyed Temple, and everyone calls out MAZEL TOV!
The ceremony is over, but the celebration is just starting. The newlyweds leave for a period of time. When they return the tables are loaded down with food, they break their fast, and the guests rejoice with the newlyweds. The Orthodox do not seat men and women together, so the men sing and dance on one side of the mechitza while the women sing and dance on the other side.
The party gets very noisy.
This a brief telling of the wedding of my friend. If you've ever been to a Jewish wedding, you know I've left out a bunch of stuff. Ah, it was a wonderful day!!
Shalom.