Jewish Wedding Rituals Archives - Page 7 of 7 - Smashing the Glass

5 ways to ‘incorporate Jewish’ into your non-Jewish or Interfaith wedding

12/08/2013 by Karen

image: Chyna Darner Photography

Mazel Tov, you’re engaged! You are starting to put together Pinterest boards, you’re buying every wedding magazine going and bookmarking all the best wedding blogs. There’s only one hitch – you are Jewish, and your fiancà© isn’t. But no need to worry, because by adding Jew-ish touches to your wedding and reception, you can honour both sides and have everyone “kvelling” in no time.

Here are five simple and fun ways to incorporate Jewish wedding traditions into your special day:

1. FIND AN INTERFAITH KETUBAH: There are Ketubot written in English with no mention of God or religious beliefs. Every couple should agree to love, commitment and laughter (three things the Ketubah represents); it’s good for the soul! [image: Interfaith ketubah from Daphna & Godwin’s Tuscan castle Jewish wedding ]

2. HAVE YOUR PARENTS WALK YOU DOWN THE AISLE: Every Jewish mother dreams of the day she’ll walk her child down the aisle (wearing a dress that’s the envy of all her friends). Don’t deprive her of this proud moment! Plus, your soon to be in-laws will no doubt find it charming, thereby giving you some serious brownie points.

3. HAVE A CHUPPAH: The chuppah represents your new home and forms a beautiful, striking central space for the wedding ceremony. Also, designing a chuppah will be a special way for you both to create something symbolic and beautiful together. Just add it in to the floral budget and enjoy the experience and symbolism. [image: Chuppah from Lee & Gary’s Jewish Wedding at The Criterion, London / Peachy Productions ]

4. SMASH THE GLASS! Since even Jews can’t agree on why we break a glass at a Jewish wedding, there’s really no reason not to include the tradition. It’s fun! Everyone shouts “Mazal Tov” and everyone claps and hollers. Who doesn’t want a standing ovation on their wedding day?

Top 10 Chuppah Entrance Songs

08/08/2013 by Karen

Image by Susan Stripling taken from Natasha & Jez’s wedding

What song would you like to walk into when you walk down the aisle to your chuppah? There are lots of lovely traditional Jewish songs such as Jerusalem of Gold, Dodi Li, L’cha Dodi, Erev Shel Shoshanim, ‘Sunrise, Sunset’, modern Israeli songs like Mitachat Lashamayim and Lekol Echad Yesh or choose from Smashing The Glass’s Top 30 songs to walk down the aisle to at a Jewish wedding.

I asked Maya Bechor from Zebra Music to recommend 10 fresh chuppah entrance songs for the modern bride and groom. What I really like about Zebra is that they gently encourage Jewish couples to step out of their comfort zone of ordinary “wedding music”. They know exactly how to get the crowd pumped and the party started!.

Zebra and Smashing The Glass are proud to bring you some of the more non-traditional, interesting, happy, energy-filled chuppah entrance song ideas. Listen, enjoy, and… MAZAL TOV!

1. HEY HO BY THE LUMINEERS
This is a great song choice that crosses every type of person and musical genre.

2. ALL I WANT IS YOU BY BARRY LOUIS POLISAR
A cute little love song from the “Juno” soundtrack, A real feel-good song with loving lyrics.

3. GOD ONLY KNOWS BY THE BEACH BOYS
The legendary American rock band gave us one of our favourite songs for wedding season – every word counts.

4. LET’S STAY TOGETHER BY AL GREEN
Classics always work. Al Green sure knows how to put us in a sentimental mood with this soulful love ballad.

5. YOU ARE THE BEST THING BY RAY LAMONTAGNE
With his rough and moving voice Ray will captivate all of your guests, it’s very simple — “you are the best thing that ever happened to me”.

Jewish Wedding Glossary – Smashing The Glass Style

07/08/2013 by Karen

So what do those funny-sounding Yiddishe/ Aramaic/Hebrew words associated with a Jewish Wedding really mean? It’s all laid out below for you complete with some all-important insights if you want to be really in the know…

AUFRUF: A short ceremony during the Shabbat (Sabbath) synagogue service that normally takes place on the Saturday morning before the wedding. The groom (and sometimes the bride) are honoured in front of their community. This is often followed by a small party or lunch (any excuse to add some food into a ritual).

ARAMAIC: A semitic language related to Hebrew that is often used as the wording in the ketubah (and a near-unpronouncable dialect that only rabbis seem to be able to enunciate / read).

ASHKENAZI: Jews of Eastern and Central European descent.

BADEKEN: A short but meaningful ceremony where the groom covers the bride’s face with her veil. It occurs just before the actual wedding ceremony and is a custom that derives from the biblical account of Jacob’s first marriage, when he was deceived to marry the heavily veiled Leah instead of Rachel, his intended bride.

The badeken is often emotionally charged as the bride and groom may not have seen each other for 24 hours or longer (as much as 7 days) until this moment.

The Badeken ceremony as seen at Karen & Jeremy’s wedding [image by Earthy Photography]

BENCHERS / BENCHING: A small booklet containing the Jewish blessings for a meal (or a Jewish songbook for dinner – we love singing!)

BIRKAT HAMAZON: Jewish blessings recited after a meal – known in English as Grace after Meals (or a Jewish songbook for after dinner jollity).

CHATAN: Hebrew word for groom or a son-in-law. It comes from the verb meaning to tie, connect or covenant.

CHAZAN: A cantor – often a trained musician – who plays an active role in the ceremony in prayers said as songs (and he more often that not sings better than the rabbi).

CHALLAH: Delicious sweet plaited white bread eaten on Shabbat and at celebrations (a bit like a brioche – absolutely scrumptious toasted with a little butter).

CHUPPAH: The wedding canopy which sits atop four poles that represents the couple’s future home(often mistakenly pronounced as ‘Chopper’ as in the bike , or ‘Chupa [Chups]’ as in the lollipops).

A Jewish Chuppah as seen at Lee Ann & Andre’s’ wedding [image by Gavin Hart Photography]

HA MOTZI: A Jewish blessing recited over bread.

HAVA NAGILA: A traditional Hebrew folk song played at Jewish weddings (it’s become the absolute staple of Jewish wedding bands).

The Jewish Wedding and Breaking the Glass. Why?

16/07/2013 by Karen

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Image: Dave & Charlotte

Nothing says “Jewish wedding” more than the sound of the smashing of the glass, so it’s the natural joyous title for my Jewish wedding blog but why is breaking the glass such an important ritual of the Jewish wedding ceremony?

First and foremost it is the official signal to cheer, dance, shout “Mazal Tov!” and start partying! But there are various other explanations depending on whom you ask. Some of them are that it:

1. is a representation of the fragility of human relationships; and a reminder that marriage will change your life (hopefully for the good) forever.
2. is a superstition and the loud noise is supposed to drive away evil spirits.
3. is a break with the past: the marriage is to last as long as the glass remains broken, ie. forever.
4. symbolises the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem some 2000 years ago.
5. symbolises a hope that your happiness will be as plentiful as the shards of glass, or that your children will be as plentiful as the shards of glass.

And so it goes on. And as with many symbolic acts in Judaism, you can see that there are a host of reasons available to explain why we break the glass at a Jewish wedding. Some Jewish men may also joke that this is the last time the groom gets to ‘put his foot down’!

Image: Hatunot Blog / Alexey Kudrik

CHOOSE THE INTERPRETATION THAT IS MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU

Whatever reason resonates with you best, feel free to ask your rabbi or officiant to mention, just before the breaking of the glass, an interpretation that is the most meaningful for you.

And on the subject of breaking the glass, there are all sorts of alternative variations that you can make eg. why not both break the glass together with one swift smash in unison? Be creative and choose the interpretation of the breaking the glass that means the most to you as a couple and it will make that element of your ceremony more momentous.

Image: Hatunot Blog / Dima Vazinovich

WEDDING SHARD MEZUZAH KEEPSAKE

Once the glass-smashing has been done and you are man and wife, I think it’s a beautiful idea to create a mezuzah keepsake out of the smashed glass from your wedding ceremony. There are quite a few crafts-y people on Etsy who will create one for you from your shards of glass such as the one below from Enid Traisman

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Cool alternative versions of Hava Nagila, the Hora and other Jewish Wedding music

09/07/2013 by Karen

Image taken from Mishie & Misha’s spectacular Amalfi Coast Jewish wedding

How about a twist on the traditional versions of Hava Nagila or the Hora? These mp3’s will add that different element to your Jewish wedding music and make sure that yours goes down as the coolest Jewish wedding in town. If you know any other great alternative versions of Jewish wedding music that’ll get everyone dancing like this (see 40 seconds in!) please add the links or names of the songs and artists in the comments section.

HAVANA NAGILA BY HIP HOP HOODIOS
Listen
A cuban version of Hava Nagila