| Re .0
Hi Steve! I haven't seen you for a long time. Remember
Toastmasters? As for an answer to your question, I'm hard pressed
for examples of symbols or icons. I guess the reason for this is
all forms of icons are strictly forbidden in connection with
religious activities. Your art class will probably have to depict
scenes from a `typical' Jewish wedding.
The Hebrew term for marriage is `kidushin', in a loose translation
meaning a state of holiness. Since the laws of marriage are very
complicated there is a whole volume of the Talmud devoted to
kidushin. I'll try to summarize the whole volume into a single
paragraph. :-)
Kidushin is broken into two parts, nitoyin (the betrothal) and
chupa (the wedding ceremony). The CH sound in chupa is a sound,
from the Hebrew alpha-bet, that comes from the back of the throat.
For nitoyin, the groom or chasin (that sound again) gives the
bride or cala something of value, by todays custom it is the
wedding ring. Then the chasin and cala are married under a canopy
or chupa which is located out doors. Today nitoyin and chupa are
performed at the same ceremony. However, in ancient times nitoyin
might be arranged by the parents of two families when the children
are still infants. Chupa would be performed when they reached
legal age.
Two month ago I attended a Chassidic wedding in Boston. It was in
a large hotel and there were almost 500 guests. The scene that
stands out in my mind today is a crowd of around 200 men in black
coats and beards lifting the chasin on a chair and dancing wildly
around the men's side of the hall. I forgot to mention that at
most Orthodox events, men and women are seated separately with a
divider or mechitsa between them. It is scenes such as this that I
find typical of Jewish weddings and might be a good subject for
your class.
I have some general information on marriage and other aspects of
Jewish life which I can xerox from the back of a religious
calendar. It will probably take a few days to reach you (infernal
mail). In the mean time, good luck in your project.
Fred
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> all forms of icons are strictly forbidden in connection with
> religious activities
.0 didn't ask for icons, he asked for symbols. Judaism doesn't recognise
much of a difference between 'religious activities' and 'life'. Judaism
has certainly recognized for over 2000 years the use of certain symbols.
Two that come to mind are the menorah (7-branched candlabra),
and the symbol of 2 lions supporting a tree of life.
2 more problematic and recent symbols are the hexagram
(magen david, or shield of david) and the tablets of the law.
Look around you in any synagogue, and you are likely to see all of these
symbols. True, none of these symbols have any _legal_ significance.
However, symbols are not legal signifiers, they are signifiers of a
complex of emotion, group identification, and implied meaning.
A list of objects with legal significance that have symbolic value
might start with the sandal used in halitzah, and could easily include
matzah, succah, shofar, lehem mishneh (the 2 loaves used at Sabbath meals)...
> The Hebrew term for marriage is `kidushin', in a loose translation
If you want to split hairs, Kiddushin correspond to betrothal,
'marriage' is nissuin. It's certainly easier not to split hairs, and
let the word 'marriage' refer to the entire set of ceremonies/actions involved.
> Kidushin is broken into two parts, nitoyin (the betrothal) and
What is 'nitoyin'? Do you mean tenaim?
Jewish law recognizes three stages of becoming married; formal engagement
(tenaim), betrothal (kiddushin) and cohabitation (nissuin). Western culture no
longer has a stage corresponding to betrothal, although I believe in the middle
ages it still existed.
Tenaim (a formal engagement agreement) is entirely optional, and many
Orthodox marriages no longer use it. [Personal opinion: Tenaim _should_
become more popular. It is the correct place to incorporate the modern desire
for pre-nuptial agreements, both financial and behavioristic, into the
religious process. ]
> For nitoyin, the groom or chasin (that sound again) gives the
> bride or cala something of value, by todays custom it is the
> wedding ring. Then the chasin and cala are married under a canopy
> or chupa which is located out doors. Today nitoyin and chupa are
> performed at the same ceremony. However, in ancient times nitoyin
> might be arranged by the parents of two families when the children
> are still infants. Chupa would be performed when they reached
> legal age.
You are, like, badly confused. A 'Chupa' is the place where the kiddushin
takes place, it is not itself a ceremony. The legal activities comprising
kiddushin that take place under that chupa is that the groom aquires
(kinyan) the bride as a wife, in exchange for an object of value --the ring,
and a promise in writing to feed her, clothe her, and service her
(and some other property-related promises) -- the ketubah.
(This is one of my favorite parts of Judaism :-) Hey all you wives out there
who haven't gotten any lately, go read your ketubah and insist on your rights!)
The chupa is located outdoors if possible, indoors if its too inconvenient.
Hassidim in particular go to great lengths to have it outdoors, but its
not a legal requirement.
The marriage is completed when the couple have cohabited a certain
minimum length of time -- that is, have been left alone together long
enough that sexual intercourse could have occured. This part is
called yichud (cohabitation) and it legally comprises the 'nissuin' part
of marriage, and naturally it is not a public ceremony. It generally
occurs between the Chupa and the obligatory family picture-taking.
Reception with chopped liver, quarter-chicken per person, sweets
table and much music and dancing, generally follows. The legal precept
being fulfilled here is 'seudat mitzvah' - having a festive meal to
celebrate a joyous occasion.
> I forgot to mention that at
> most Orthodox events, men and women are seated separately with a
> divider or mechitsa between them. It is scenes such as this that I
This is not, statistically speaking, true. The percentage of Orthodox
Jews who follow this particular social extreme (separate seating
at weddings) is, I believe, much less than 50%.
Fred, it sometimes sounds like you have learned everything you know about Orthodox
Judaism from partying with Hassids. There's alot to be said for partying
with Hassids (they throw great parties) but...but...
surely there are other, more, shall we say - reliable-, sources of information
to be had. Some of these sources are even books written by Hassidim!
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| In nontechnical terms, the "object" most symbolic of a Jewish wedding
would be the chuppah (sometimes "huppah"), the canopy the bride
and groom stand under during the ceremony. These range from elaborate
frameworks (usually rented to the wedding party at an exorbitant
rate by a florist) entwined with flowers, to having someone hold
a prayer shawl (tallis, or tallit) around or over the couple (very
popular in Israel). Paul and I had four friends march into the
sanctuary ahead of us (wedding was inside - first day of spring
five years ago, and raining) carrying four 8-foot poles (we had
a chuppah-frame-making party! Great fun for the people who were
going to carry it, and then we donated it to the synagogue) with
a very large, formal-type prayer shawl as the canopy (Paul doesn't
normally wear that tallis as it is extremely hot and very large
- it is wool - he usually wears it only for Yom Kippur). After
they set it up, we came in and stood under it.
Paul's sister had one of the elaborate, flowered-wrapped ones -
she wanted lots of flowers during her wedding (which was on the
New Moon during Channukah, five years ago - made for a bunch of
extra ceremony because of the holiday and the beginning of the month
- even the rabbi had to use a prayerbook!).
The last Jewish wedding I went to had a sort of a flower-encrusted
archway set up outdoors, with Joe's (the groom) tallis as the top
of it.
Most people are not likely to have ever seen one of those house-shaped
rings, and not everyone gets a fancy ketubah (we commissioned one
from an artist - it hangs in our bedroom). The other thing that
people would commonly associate with a Jewish wedding is everyone
dancing around carrying the bride and groom up on their shoulders
in chairs, but not everyone does this (too bad, too - we have some
hilarious pictures of one of Paul's uncles gritting his teeth as
he sets his shoulder under Paul's chair to raise him up - the uncle
probably shouldn't have been doing this much exertion, but people
get carried away at weddings! It's GREAT fun!).
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