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Jewish Marriage Essay

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Analyse how Jewish religious practices influence the live of adherents (Marriage).
Marriage influences the life of Judaism adherents because the Jewish people place an importance on the home and family as the centre of Jewish life. Marriage is therefore much valued and anticipated in Judaism and it is considered the basic unit of the Jewish community. A Jewish marriage is based on the covenantal relationship with God and it is believed that the future of the whole people depends upon marriage and the rearing of children.
Judaism considers marriage to be humanity’s ideal state of existence and marriage is also viewed as a contractual bond commandment by god in which a man and a woman come together to create a relationship in which God is directly involved.
In Jewish law, marriage consists of two acts, called erusin meaning sanctification, which is the betrothal ceremony and nesu’in or chuppah, the actual ceremony for the marriage. Erusin changes the couple’s interpersonal status, while nesu’in brings about the legal consequences of the change of status. In Talmudic time these two ceremonies usually took place up to a year apart.
According to tradition, betrothal could only be contracted by money (shtar), or a contract containing a betrothal declaration or by sexual intercourse with the intention of a creating a bond for marriage, rabbis did not support the last process. In modern society only the process of the exchanging of rings is practised. Marriage in biblical time was arranged marriage by the family members it did not matter whether you were in love or not. The marriage was based on conceiving children companionship and the woman was to serve her man.
Traditionally engagement for the purpose of marriage was sometimes organised by a third person called a shadchan a matchmaker. This was a paid position within the community although the rabbi was also often used as an intermediary in the discussions between the two families.

On the day of the marriage, the wedding takes place under the chuppah, but before the wedding ceremony, there is a veiling ceremony where the groom accompanied by his parents, Rabbi and guests is lead to the bride and he covers her face with the veil. This action has biblical antecedents shown in Genesis 24: 65 “just before Rebecca met Isaac she took the veil and covered herself”. The placing of the veil over the bride is done to ensure that the groom is marrying the right woman he loves and it’s a sign of modesty as placing the veil over the brides face can be viewed and considered a chuppah.
After the veiling ceremony the couple is lead o the chuppah for actual wedding ceremony. It is a customary that the groom is lead by two attendants to the chuppah first, this is because the chuppah is seen as the domain of the groom and he must welcome the bride into it. This is seen in exodus 19:17 at Mount Sinai when Moses led the people out of camp to greet God.
The wedding ceremony takes place under a canopy known as the chuppah both the bride and groom where white clothing which represents spirituality and physical purity and a sign of mortality, for when they both die they will wear white shrouds. The bride wears a white dress and the groom wears a white robe known as the kittel made out of linen cotton and contains no pockets. The absence of pockets on the kittel indicate that the bride takes him as he is and not for what he has.
During the wedding ceremony the Rabbi recites a blessing over a glass of wine and gives the couple a prenuptial blessing and then both the bride and groom sip the groom gives the bride a ring. The ring is seen as more than a mere symbol. It is the giving of the ring, and not the blessing said by the Rabbi, that makes the couple man and wife.
The exchange of the ring at the marriage ceremony goes back to the days of the return from exile from Babylon Nehemiah 7:46, the ring is seen as a symbol because it represents the cycle of life in that there is no beginning or end it represents one link in the chain of humanity which is important to Jewish adherents as they believe that when man and woman come together they have to create new life which will allow the traditions of Judaism to continue as they will be passed on from one generation to another.
In the marriage ceremony the Kethubah a marriage contract is read. Under this contract the man promises his wife that he will carry out his obligations as a husband according to Jewish laws and customs. It is forbidden for a man to leave his life unless a Kethubah has been executed and signed. The Kethubah has a symbolic meaning in which the bride and groom represent God and Israel at Mount Sinai when the Torah was given. The Kethubah represents the “ Book of the covenant” that Moses wrote prior to the revelation at Mt Sinai Exodus 24. This book spelt out the mutual obligation of god and Israel, which the adherents cherish as it, allows them to have a special connection and relation with their God.

The marriage process is significant for the individuals and the Jewish community because it is through the marriage process that the tradition can continue to grow and develop and allow the adherents to pass on the tradition to the new generation. Marriage is seen as a personal, contractual relationship and the Talmud specifies the role played by the symbols in the ceremony to remind the Jewish people of the contract between God and Abraham and they remind them of the God who created them and who brought them together.
In the community marriage is seen as a time for rejoice as each marriage offered brings new hope for survival of the adherents as much value is placed on marriage. The community benefits from the coming together of the couple and Judaism gains spiritual expression of the love of people for each other that’s why marriage is an influential part of the Jewish adherents.

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