Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1875 — Jewish Marriages. [ARTICLE]

Jewish Marriages.

The season of the year selected by all classes of Jews as the-most auspicious period for marriage is that which precedes the great Jewish festivals. The majority of marriages therefore take place before the Feast of Passover and the New Year respectively. Jewish marriages as a rule are not the result of actual acquaintance existing between the contracting parties; love is in many cases considered quite a secondary consideration. Match-making is largely indulged in; in fact, there are Jews whose sole profession is that of matrimonial agent. They are well known in the Israelitish world, and their clients are numerous. They cultivate everybody’s friendship, and are welcome visitors in all families in which there is_ a goodly number of daughters. On discovering a suitable bride for an eager Benedict their labors are rewarded on both sides according to the worldly means of the people,,whom they have served. A young lacly and gentleman being matched, courtship immediately commences, and the happy man is expected to visit “his intended” every evening previous to the auspicious event. He takes her to the theaters and other places of amusement. The Jewish “engaged young man” is generally a most exemplary character; he pays his fiancee every attention, and, while he is most ardent in his devotion, he is exceedingly circumspect in his behavior. On the Sabbath preceding the joyful event (Jewish marriages generally take place on Wednesday) the family of the bride and bridegroom assemble at the house of the former for the purpose of “ sitting for joy.” Visitors attend in large numbers to drink the health of the happy pair and to offer them their congratulations. The friends and visitors, in most cases, prolong their stay till very late in the evening, and card-play-ing is large.y indulged in, the happy man and his future wife displaying an interest in 100 or whist, as the case may be, which is altogether astonishing seeing how hear ds the long-wished-for event. The Israelite looks upon marriage as a part of his duty, and he proceeds to contract it in a most practical and businesslike way. Very little trembling, confusion or bashfulness characterizes his attempt at explaining the object or his intentions if the match is not arranged. He offers himself to the lady of his heart as though he were about to conduct a mercantile transaction. But this coolness is not indicative of want of affection, for it has been proved that Jewish husbands are, taking class for class, far more affectionate and faithful to their wives than the members of any other religious denomination. A Jewish divorce case is a rare event, and w r e never read in the police reports of an Israelite convicted for beating his wife. The merit, perhaps, is not all on the part of the husband, for Jewish women are. gifted with natures which do n6t admit of their being easily trampled on or illused. On the day of the wedding the bride and bridegroom are not permitted to partake of being enforced as a punishment iof sins of omission or commission. Previous to the ceremony the fathers of the lady and gentleman, and the male friends of both, assemble at the house of the bridegroom, and the ladies meet at the residence of the bride. The happy couple are then conducted to the synagogue by their respective suites. As Christian readers are not well acquainted with Jewish marriage customs, the following account of a particular ceremony may be of some interest to them: On the occasion alluded to the doom of the synagogue were besieged by a large throng of Jewesses who were eager to gain admission, but, the ladies’ gallery being already full, the officials refused to admit any more. With some difficulty we contrived to gain admission into the synagogue, a handsome and commodious building, richly ornamented. In the center was a raised platform surrounded by rails and on it lounged a 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 reverend the 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 dressed in a flowing velvet gown and a stiff cap of the same material. A large number of men were standing about the synagogue, many of whom took up their position in it for several hours for the purpose of witnessing all the marriage ceremonies. No marriage can be solemnized unless ten men are present, that number being requisite to form a synagogical quorum.

In a small, curtained pew were deposited four or five young ladies who were severally destined to become the wives of the same number of young men who were seated on a bench near the Holy Ark. The necessary preparations for the ceremony having 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*th.e bride and the bridegroom, accompanied by their parents, advanced, and took their positien beneath a silken canopy 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 whether it was his own, and if it were gold, and, having had both questions answered in the affirmative, returned it with thanks. Another minister then intoned in a splendid tenor voice a short prayer in Hebrew, which, having read the translation, \tfe found not at all pertinent to the occasion, and might be read with just as much appropriateness at a funeral as at a marriage. The Rabbi then addressed the bride and bridegroom in the English language, and irhpressed upon them the importance and holiness of the bond he was about to form. He told them that marriage was a union which existed not for one year, nor for ten years, but forever. He urged upon the lady the turning her attention 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 responsibility heHncurred in taking to himself a tvife; he asked him to study the law of the Israelites, and to adhere strictly to those enactments prescribed by the Jewish law given by Moses. A glass of wine was then handed to the Rabbi, who pronounced a blessing over it, and it was then given to the bride and her future partner, who both tasted it. A psalm was then sung by the min--ister of the musical voice, and inline--, diately afterward the ring was plated on the forefinger of the'bride bride groom, who muttered a few words in Hebrew- to the effect that the lady was married to him according to the laws

of Moses and alk Israel. A glass was then put on the ground, and this the husband dashed to pieces by stamping upon it, amid cries of “ Muzzletoun” (Good luck) from the by-standers. The Rabbi then commenced reading in a sing-song tone a rather lengthy document, which the husband subsequently signed. The paper in question was a species of marriage settlement, in which it is added that the bridegroom promises to devote to the use of his wife several hundred dollars. This-document is a 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 signification of the paper, which is an accessory to the Jewish marriage ceremony more honored on account of its antiquity than on account of its use. As has been shown, the Jewish marriage rites are of a very simple character and do not, indeed, occupy more than ten or fifteen minutes in performance. Neither the bride nor bridegroom has to answer any question relative to their willingness “to take” each other, their presence being sufficiently indicative of the fact. The solemnization being completed, the wedding party adjourn to breakfast, and the festivities during the day are generally of a very liberal character. A Jewish divorce case, as we have already said, is a great rarity, but separations between husband and wife are nevertheless of frequent occurrence in the Polish section of the Jewish community. Should a woman not exhibit a capacity of well managing the household, or display a bad temper, the husband notes on a slip of paper a few words describing his intention of leaving her forever. The American chief Rabbi will not countenance such proceedings, but in Poland divorces of this character are of daily occurrence.—lF. P. Morras, in Chicago Advance.