Romance and Ritual: Celebrating the Jewish Wedding

by Shalom Sabar, Barbara Gilbert

This title explores the Jewish wedding and related themes of courtship and married life through customs and rituals from different times and places. Included are many treasured works, including rare, illuminated ketubbot (wedding contracts) from the 17th to 20th centuries and embroidered Wimpels or Torah binders; newly restored American wedding gowns from the late 19th century to the present accompanied by personal and touching stories; and mementos - postcards, sheet music, invitations - that celebrate the universal aspiratons couples have when embarking upon marriage. Additional wedding clothing reflects Jewish communites in Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Rhodes. Portraits celebrate the virtues of marriage, depicting couples well into their marriages. Essays on wedding dress preservation and recommendations to the modern bride are also included. Though Jewish law stipulates very few requirements for a wedding, many special customs and rituals have been developed over time and in different countries to embellish this important personal event. The ketubbah documents the marriage. A huppa, or canopy, symbolizes the home the couple will build together.

143 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2001

About the author

Shalom Sabar is a professor of Jewish art and folklore at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He researches Jewish and folk material culture and ephemera, objects associated with the cycles of life and of the year, and ritual and custom in the Jewish communities in Europe and in Islamic Iands. He is also interested in the culture of Italian Jews and the Sephardic diaspora in Europe, the cultural and artistic interrelationships between the Jewish communities and their Christian and Muslim neighbors, and the image of the Jew and Hebrew writing in art.