Legal basis
The Mishnah lists the ways of effecting kiddushin, among them the handing over of an object of value; today a ring without stones is used, given before two witnesses.1
The ketubah (כְּתֻבָּה) is a contract written in Aramaic that sets out the husband's obligations toward his wife, including financial provision in case of divorce or widowhood.2
Customs
Breaking a glass at the end of the ceremony recalls the destruction of Jerusalem in the midst of joy; tradition links it with the Talmudic story of an expensive cup being broken at a wedding.5
Ashkenazi customs: the veiling of the bride by the groom (bedeken), the bride circling the groom seven times, the couple fasting on the wedding day and the groom's white kittel.
In Sephardi, Oriental and Yemenite communities a pre-wedding henna celebration is widespread.
The wedding phrase "the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness" is quoted in one of the seven blessings, following the prophet Jeremiah.6
Today
In Israel, Jews contract religious marriages through the Chief Rabbinate; the state registers civil marriages contracted abroad.
The movements differ on questions such as an egalitarian ketubah, intermarriage or same-sex marriage; Orthodox Judaism does not recognize the latter two, while some liberal congregations allow them.
שאלות נפוצות
When are weddings not held?
On Shabbat and holidays, and traditionally also during part of the Omer period and in the "Three Weeks" before Tisha B'Av; the details vary between communities.⁂ לאימות
Is a rabbi required?
Halakhically, the witnesses and the correct procedure are what matter; in practice a rabbi officiates and ensures the ceremony is valid.
מקורות
מקורות ראשוניים
- 1Mishnah Kiddushin, 1:1 text ↗
- 2Mishnah Ketubot
- 3Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot, 7b–8a text ↗
- 4Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer, 62 text ↗
- 5Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot, 30b–31a text ↗
- 6Jeremiah, 33:10–11 text ↗
- 7Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer



