The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-10-15
A Jewish Wedding.

A writer in the London Daily Ne,rs
thus describes Jewish wedding:
"With some difficulty l contrived to
gain admission into the synagogue,
handsome and commodious building,
richly ornamented. In the centre was
raised platform, surrounded by rails, and
on it lOunged couple of officials. At
the end of the synagogue and facing the
doors was the Holy Ark, in which the
Scrolls of the Law are deposited. The
Rev. Chief Rabbi stood in his pew, with
his face to the Ark, evidently engaged
in prayer, and near him sat the two
ministers of the synagogue, attired in
long alpaca gowns and high clerical hats.
The chief rabbi was apparelled in flow
ing velvet gown and a stiff cap of the
same material. A large number of men
were standing about the synagogue,
many of whom take up their position in
it for several hours together for the pur-
pose of witnessing all the marriage GER
emonies. may incidentally allude to
the fact that a marriage can not be sol
emnized unless ten men are present, that
number being requisite to form syna-
gogal quorum. In small curtained
pew were deposited four or five young
ladies who were severally destined to be-
come the wives of like number of
young gentlemen who were seated on a
bench near the Holy Ark. The neces-
sary preparations for the ceremony hav-
ing been satisfactorily concluded by the
beadles, ,whO ever and anon flew up and
down the aisles with startling rapidity,
the chief rabbi and the two ministers,
and the bride and bridegroom, accom-
panied by their parents, advanced and
took their position beneath silken can
opy which was supported by four posts,
upheld by the friends of the party. One
of the clerical gentlemen then asked the
happy man for the bridal ring, and asked
him whetherit was his own and if it
was gold, and, having answered both
questions in the affirmative, returned it
with thanks. Another minister then
intoned in splendid tenor voicea short
prayer in Hebrew, which, having read
the translation, l find it is not at all
pertinent to the occasion, and might be
read with as much appropriateness at a
funeral as Mt a marriage. The rabbi then
addressed the bride and bridegroom in
the English language, and impressed on
them the Importance and holiness of the
bond he was about to form. He told
them that marriage was union which
existed not for one year, nor for ten
years, but forever. He urged upon the
lady the ACCESSIBILITY of turning her at
tention to domestic affairs, and spoke of
her influence at home, where it would
be paramount. To the young man he
gave much sage counsel touching the re-
sponsibility he incurred in taking unto
himself wife; he asked him to study
the Jaws of the Israelites and to adhere
strictly to those enactments prescribed
by the Jewish lawgiver Moses. A glass
of wine was then handed to the rabbi,
who pronounced blessing over it, and it
was then given to the bride and her
future partner, and both tasted IL. A
psalm was then sung by the minister pos
sessing the musical voice, and imme-
diately afterwards the ring was placed
on the forefinger of the bride by the
bridegroom, who muttered few words in
Hebrew to the effect that the~lady was
married to him according to the laws of
Moses and all Israel. A glass was then
put on the ground, and this the husband
dashed to pieces by stamping upon it,
amid the cries of Mazzletoun (good
lucky from the bystanders. The rabbi
then commenced reading in sing-sOng
tone rather lengthy document, which
the husband subsequently signed. The
paper in question have since discovered
to be species of marriage settlement, in
which it is stated that the bridegroom
promises to devote to the use of his wife
several hundred pounds. This docu-
ment is mere farce, as it is not expected
that any such settlement will take place,
inasmuch as in eleven cases out of twelve
the circumstances of the husband render
him capable only of just maintaining
his wife and nothing more. In fact, the
Jews themselves are ordinarily ignorant
of the contents or significance of the pre-
cious paper, which is an accessory to the
Jewish marriage ceremony more honored
on account of its antiquity than on ac-
count of its use. AS has been shown,
the Jewish marriage rites are of very
simple character, and do not, indeed, oc-
cupy more than ten or fifteen minutes in
performance. Neither the bride nor the
bridegroom has to answer any questions
relative to their willingness to take
each other, the present being sufficiently
indicative of the fact. The solemniza-
ton being completed, the wedding party
adjourned to breakfast, and the festivi-
ties throughout the day are generally of
very liberal character"