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Wedding contract (ketoubbah)
Giovanni Ricci-Novara
4. Life’s Milestones
From cradle to grave, the milestones of Jewish life are marked by rituals based on both religious commandments and local customs. These customs have evolved over time depending on the societies in which they developed.
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The circumcision of boys at the age of eight days (brit milah) recalls the covenant between God and Abraham as recounted in the Bible. It is obligatory but can be postponed in case of danger to the child.
Although no equivalent exists for girls, the naming of a new-born girl is often the occasion for celebrating her birth.
At age thirteen for boys, twelve for girls, the child becomes a full member of the community as a bar or bat mitzvah, literally ‘son’ or ‘daughter of the commandment’. Mentioned for the first time in the 13th century, this event did not become the subject of an actual ritual until the 19th century. The weakening transmission of Judaism brought about preparatory instruction and justified the creation of new rituals.
In France, in the 1840s, a collective ceremony of ‘religious initiation’ recognised the end of religious studies for both girls and boys. Individual celebrations with reading from the Torah and speeches are therefore recent developments. The role of girls varies today with the community of which they are members, ranging from exclusion to complete equality. The festive aspect of the event has taken on great importance.
Traditionally considered the cornerstone of all Jewish life, marriage fulfils the Biblical commandment: ‘Be fruitful and multiply’. It is preceded by presenting the bride with a contract (ketubah), initially conceived to protect her rights. During the marriage rite, the couple is placed under a nuptial canopy (chuppah), symbolising divine protection. At the end of the ceremony, a glass is broken in memory of the destruction
of the Temple.
The burial of the dead is traditionally undertaken by the community so that the family can devote itself exclusively to mourning. Intended to allow the expression of grief before a gradual return to normal life,
its rituals have evolved, including prayers for the elevation of the dead person’s soul, such as the Orphan’s (or Mourner’s) Kaddish, which made its appearance in the Middle Ages and is recited for a year for a parent and thereafter on each anniversary of his or her death.
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Further information :
Marriage
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Marco Marcuola (Verona, 1740 - Venice, 1793), A Jewish Wedding, Venice, circa 1780
© Mario Goldman, mahJ
Marriage is the purpose of God's creation: the Talmud says that since the world was created, God has devoted his time to forming couples. In the Bible, married love embodies sacred perfection and serves as a metaphor for the union between God and his people, between Israel and the Torah. The ceremony can take place in a private home, in the open air or in a synagogue. In its rabbinic form, the ceremony has two stages. It begins with the consecration known as erusin or qiddushin, where the bridegroom takes his bride before two witnesses and in the presence of ten men; to seal the qiddushin, he gives her either money, an object of value or a document attesting to his willingness to marry her and declares: ‘Behold, you are consecrated to me according to the law of Moses and Israel’. A wedding ring is not used until very late in the ritual, at which point the marriage certificate (ketubbah), guaranteeing the wife's rights in the event of divorce or widowhood, is read and signed by the husband and witnesses before the actual wedding (nissu'in) begins. The seven blessings (shev'a brakhot) are then recited under a canopy (chuppah), forming the roof of a house over the bride and groom. At the end of the ceremony, the groom breaks a glass in memory of the destroyed Temple; the wedding concludes with the couple being isolated.
Weddings are occasions for great rejoicing; since ancient times, music and song, dance and entertainment have ritually accompanied the various stages of the festivities. In the Ashkenazi world, these customs became fixed at the end of the Middle Ages and were only modified later under the influence of Hasidism. The art of decorating contracts reached its apogee in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries.
