Rabbi David Gruber describes a taking experience of officiating a unique interfaith matrimonial ceremony, a Hin-Jew wedding, in Texas.
Where There is Love There is Life: A Hin-Jew Wedding in Texas
One of the most unique weddings I own officiated was Shreeti and Jon’s I co-officiated with Shreeti’s family’s lay pundit (Hindu priest), Jaysurya (“Jay”) Upadhyaya It was taking to see how these two faiths, one Western and one Eastern, came together in one ceremony, and how many parallels exist between the wedding rituals of both.
The ceremony began at the entrance, with Shreeti’s mother waving a wand over Jon to fling away spirits This Hindu tradition is corresponding to the Jewish tradition of attack the ceremony with the bride and groom’s mothers prime the bride around the groom to similarly militia him In harmony with Hindu tradition, Jon then broke a clay pot to symbolically remove any obstacles to the marriage.
The ceremony itself was held subservient a mandap, a Hindu ceremonial cope that turns the entire area below it into a symbolic altar This served furthermore as the Jewish chuppah, which symbolizes the bride and groom’s new home Interestingly, both faiths center around the home, rather than the habitat of worship, which means that home and altar are extraordinary much one and the same.
At varied points during the Hindu portions of the ceremony, people made offerings to different deities This usually involves Sanskrit chanting by the pundit, the tossing of the offering into burn and the motif of the article with blend These are extraordinary important parts of the ceremony, as the favor of the deities is seen as important to a life of happiness for the new children being created unbefitting the mandap. The Jewish portions of the ceremony do not involve offerings, but do involve the chanting of blessings in Hebrew I opened the Jewish ration of the ceremony with traditional, welcoming blessings and towards the end blessed the brace with the Priestly Blessing
In a Jewish wedding, parents and loved ones are brought below the chuppah with the bride and groom. This is true of a Hindu matrimonial too Shreeti’s parents spent quota of the ceremony under the mandap, made an offering and even washed Shreeti and Jon’s feet, beseeching him to nurture their daughter as an equal man Later in the ceremony, young members from both sides, including Jon’s parents, joined Shreeti and Jon unbefitting the mandap, and made offerings, which the couple, circling a trifling sanctuary four times, threw into the ignite The circling symbolizes the couple’s commitment to remaining true to one’s values, providing for the family, taking fulfillment and achieving erudition Every point they circled the altar, siblings and cousins, who had surrounded the mandap, pelted them with flower petals. Later, after the ceremony, with their families once again surrounding them, the brace would sign the Jewish ketubah, a tag where they would commit themselves to essentially the duplicate ideals celebrated while chime the altar
One of the most striking resemblances between the wedding traditions of both faiths is the centrality of the figure seven The Hindu tradition has the Satapadi or Seven Vows, and the Jewish tradition has the Seven Blessings Jon laid Shreeti’s gangling toe on each of seven decorated shells respectively, while Jay chanted the Satapadi, swearing the team to live with honor and respect, be happy, allocation in all, not forget their elders, be charitable, be peaceful and affection and relinquishment for each other. I followed with the chanting of the Seven Blessings, which celebrate world in general, cosmos of man, globe of woman, the hope of return to Zion and the passion and happiness of the bride and groom and their loved ones
Both traditions include the bride and groom sharing sweet fare (in Hinduism) or sweet wine (in Judaism) to symbolize everyone’s exaltation that the yoke leave enjoy a sweet life together Shreeti and Jon returned candy and dried fruit, in accord with the Hindu tradition.
Jon then put a necklace on Shreeti’s neck, the Hindu equal to putting a ring on his bride’s finger (Both faiths, being in their traditional covert patriarchal, keep the groom putting the jewelry on the bride and not vice versa) Shreeti and Jon then scrutinize very meaningful vows they wrote, after which they exchanged rings, reciting (in Hebrew and in English) the traditional Jewish consecration formula, as well as a verse from the Song of Songs.
After I published them husband and wife, Jon recent the ceremony, fair as he started it by breaking body This time, in accord with Jewish tradition, he broke a glass. I explained it as symbolizing the breaking down of barriers between different cultures and faiths a extraordinary fitting key for this wedding
How did Shreeti and Jon, coming from traditions, far apart geographically and theologically, “pull off” such a seamless ceremony, where it was well evident that all consign felt so validated and comfortable? They communicated their plans to their families, and sought their feedback Their parents gave them honest and considerate feedback while respecting the couple’s wishes Shreeti and Jon chose officiants who were bright to education about each other’s faiths and communicated well themselves. These officiants were keen on production the varied parts of the ceremony mesh well together Most importantly, while each heirs expressed their wishes to observe various rituals from their respective traditions, it seemed like they were even further scrimping to make sure that the fresh side’s wishes were being met
It was really heart-warming to stroke how concerned these kinsfolk were regarding each other’s feelings. It has been oral that true feelings fashion caring about your loved one’s feelings, as you much as you care about yours. This couple, their families and all involved showed this genus of love, and as Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Where there is love, there is life!”
Copyright 2011 Rabbi David S Gruber All Rights Reserved. This item was peak admitted on wwwinterfaithfamily.com
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