The Portland daily press., 1895-03-13
BRIGGS-DAVIS.
Fashionable Hebrew Wedding at Gill
bert's Hall.

The Interesting Ceremony Described il
Detail.
At Gilbert's dancing academy last eve
ming there was a very interesting ant
elaborate Hebrew Wedding. The bride wa.
Miss Annie Briggs, daughter of Mr.. ant
Mrs. j. Briggs of this city. and the groom
was Mr.. Harmon Davis.
Long before the ceremony began, tn,
seats all around the hall were flied will
invited guests. whoshad game to witness
the Interesting teerelseh1sy aThey began t,
assemble at p. e., hntit was 6 p. M. be
fore there wore any signs of the beginning
of the ceremony. Meanwhile good many
little children played about tho han. 1ur
ming across the polished floor in great de
light. They We're mostly little curly headed
girls in white frocks, but one tiny hoy in g
blue coat with long tails and but one bottoI
across the chest and with lace trimming
III over it, trotted across the floor with the
girls. Hiscossnme wae very SIMILAR to the
dress coatfof yapon IVY kgs! and was very
pretty and cunning. a
There were a good many negroes among
the guests, they being invited as personal
friends of the Hebrews.
The first of the ceremony that the on
lockers saw was the appearance Of group
of twenty or thirty men 10 the doorway of
the hall. They all wore stiff or silk hats. A
small boy went ahead, up the hall carrying
piece of colored cloth and four short
poles. They were followed by Rabni II. s.
Shoher of Boston, Rabbi Scharasc hfski, the
groom and relatives of the family, wearing
tall silk hats.
The whole group of men followed up the
hall and, Immediately passageway was
opened in the midst of them and four young
men, each conducting a little girl i'll ight
dress. and wearing stiff hat, marched up
to the Rabbi. Eacn of these took one of the
four poles and fastened it to the corner of
the cloth, and held it up forming canopy,
under which the groom stood.
By this time the floor was pretty well
covered with people, and suddenly the
bride appeared in the midst of them, led
by her mother. She was dressed in very
pretty and stylish white sila, with a long
train, and of course covered with white
veil. her sleeves welel in The height of
fashion in point of size. She was led to-
wards the groom and Immediately all the
people present hurried in the same direction
was only abont five feet square was the
centre of dense crowd of nearly two hun
dred people, all standing en- tip teos. and
endeavoring TO see what was going on over
each others shoulders Some stood on the
settees at the sides of the hall. bat could
See little, SO, clcse were the people crowded
about the canopy.
The young men who held the canopy anG
who must be unmarried Ben jamin
Wolf. Hiram Wolf, Samuel Davis of Port
land. and Morris Cohen of Boston. The
bridesmaids were Bella Wolf. Eta Wolf. Ida
Briggs and Dora siyoylos.
The first proceeding was the singing in a
slow voice. Of few Hebrew words by man
who is called the, ''chanter." Then the
parents of both bride and groom led her
under the canopy where the groom was
standing and they all marched around him
three times, it being accomplished with no
little difficulty because ofathe, crowd.
Then Rabbi Shpher of Boston delivered
the marriage sermon or address; it occupy
ing some fifteen or twenty minutes. 1t was
an admirab BILE address, and spoke of the gre
spons1bilities as well as the joys of marriage
in very affective way.
The young couple were impressed with
the fact that they were united not only by
the ties of love and civil laws, but also as
descendants of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob.
After the address cup of wine was pro
duced and the Rabbi said grace and both
bride and groom tasted the wine.
Then the bride received a gold ring from
the groom who said, in giving it to her,
Thou art espoused to me according to the
law of Moses and Israeli"
I hen the marriage contract was read and
then the cup of wine was blessed seven
times and the bride and groom drank again.
and then the Cup of wine was covered with
ascioth and placed on the floor, and the
groom set his tight foot on it and crushed
it. This is very old ceremony.
:. Previous to the appearance of the bridal
party in tbeshall, the bride sat in an ante
room, half covered with veil The groom
came in with the Rabbis and parents, and
The "a bbi said blessing and repeated in
Hebrew the words that Rebecca's parents
said to her when she left him to become the
wife of Isaac: ''Oh. sisterl Thou shalt be-
come thousands and thousands
After the wedding the bride and groom
were kissed a great many times. The
groom being kissed very heartily by many
of the young men.
An elaborate banquet ami a dance to a
late hour followed the wedding. The bride
was undeniably pretty and attractive, and
the groom fine looking young man.