Badeken, Bedekenish, or Bedekung (Yiddish: bAadkn badekn, lit. covering) is the Jewish wedding rite in which the husband conceals the bride. He does this by hiding her clothes in his own chest and then an attendant comes and puts them on her. This wedding ceremony was popular among Jews in Europe. It's still performed today by some Orthodox Jews. The bedeken is often described as a "chastity ritual" in which the groom pledges not to be intimate with any other woman before, during, or after the marriage ceremony. In fact, there is no actual sexual contact involved - the bedeken is purely ceremonial. The purpose of the bedeken is to protect the wife from being impregnated by her husband after the wedding night. If she were to become pregnant after that point, it would destroy the marriage. During medieval times, when women could not read, have their names put on documents, or make other legal contracts, the bedeken served as proof of the husband's commitment to marry her. If he broke his promise, she would be free to leave him without fear of being charged with adultery. In modern weddings, the bedeken is largely a symbolic gesture.