Monday, April 2, 2018

The Practices Of Jewish Commitment Services

By Raymond Fisher


Jewish commitment services are also known as commitment ceremonies and they are in place of traditional wedding ceremonies. The whole principle behind this type of ceremony is to establish that one member of this community will now be committed to the other as a wedded couple. Here is an idea of what goes on in these types of ceremonies typically some interesting practices that they do.

A very crucial part of this ceremony would be where the couple will break a glass. This is more of a symbolic act telling the story of the destruction of the Temple and where a new era is ushered where the couple will have a newer relationship with God. This also signifies that the couple will now communicate with God as one entity.

A second rite that is done in this wedding ceremony is when the bride circles the groom. This is to symbolize that the bride and groom will now be joining each other in a more symbolic meaning. This is done with the bride walking around the groom seven times while they are both holding each others rings. Their eyes are connected the whole time until the act is done.

Now, it is very important to note that the actual marriage is broken down into two main acts with the first being the Eirusin. This is the act in which the bride and groom will change their marital statuses and the bride will acquire the surname of the groom. This act is hosted by the Rabbi in which he will let the couple share a cup of wine to unify the marriage.

The second main rite is known as the Kiddushin and is the actual marriage act. This is done first with the Kesef which is kind of like a dowry for the couple. The second act is the shtar and it is where the couple will sign the marriage documents signifying their actual union. Last is the biah which is the consummation of their marriage. This last part is now done through the exchanging of wedding rings.

After that, a document called the ketubah is read by the Rabbi then given to the bride. The witnesses will participate in the union and the Rabbi will solidify the union. This is done through prayers and passages according to tradition.

Finally, the last act is known as the Nisuin where the public will acknowledge the couple as one entity. This is done through the recitation of the sheva berachot. Once the sheva berachot has been recited, then the couple will now be united as a couple in the presence of God.

Basically, these are some practices that can be found in the commitment ceremony or wedding ceremony of Jews. The most interesting thing about these practices is that they have been around ever since the origin of Judaism. Whether one is a Jew or not, this ceremony is a beautiful one to watch because of its very interesting practices.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment