Jewish wedding
Have you ever heard about the broken dish sign as about the sign of happy feature life? Sure you have, but you barely know that this tradition came from Israel and has nothing to do with foreseen of happiness. The dish is broken on the wedding day according to Jewish wedding traditions as a symbol of ruined Synagogue. The smashed dish is a sign that Jewish greatly regret about it even on such bright day as wedding. It is a sign that no matter on their good mood and celebration they are said about the pain of their people. The dish is smashed on the engaging day and on the wedding day.
The yentas for Jewish wedding are just the same with Japanese nakodos. They are the matchmakers who help parents to set an agreement between them and to choose the day of wedding. Though, nowadays there are a few families who still follow the rule of yentas. In most cases marriages are contracted between people who love each other and yentas is just the honor the traditions. There are no rules about the date of wedding day, though there is a restriction to perform weddings on Sabbath day and on the New Year day. These are the only restrictions concerning the wedding day. Though, there are people who perform their wedding on Saturday after the sunset.
The very first ceremony the Jewish wedding starts with is signing of marital agreement. Though, this marital agreement is a rather ancient tradition and has nothing to do and nothing in common with modern marital agreements. The most important part of this agreement is husband's assent to give his wife a het in case if they will divorce. The het is thing of great importance for Jewish woman, as if a man won't give her a het after divorce she will never get married again. So, in two words it is like an allowance for woman to get married for the second time. If a couple is divorced and there is no het given for wife she will remain a spinster.
There are no strict restrictions or regulations about wedding party. Though, some couples prefer to perform it without music, as there is belief the music is not allowed at the wedding. One way or another there are a very few couples who wants to hear the traditional Wagner's wedding march during their wedding. It is so, as Wagner was known by his anti-Semitic beliefs. There are also no rules about the dresses of husband and wife. As a rule man wears the black suit with tie and woman wears white wedding dress with veil, as most women.
What is the peculiarity of Jewish wedding is a ceremony of husband's covering face of his wife with cover. It is a symbol of his readiness to care about her and to protect her no matter what happens. It is an obligatory tradition and this tradition is carries on nowadays. That is the tradition borrowed from the Bible. According to Jewish belief Rebecca covered her face with cover as she was going to marry Isaac. That is an ancient tradition but it is honored nowadays.