Jewish wedding traditions adopted by non-Jewish couple

[ellebud]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

COMMUNION is meant to be just that - amongst other things, a sign of those who, in the case of the RC church, are in communion with the Church. If you are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, be it because you belong to another sect or know yourself to be in a state of grave sin, don't believe in the real presence or aren't a Christian, you don't take communion. To do so would be to do what this thread started out being about - to take something which is a religious tradition (in the case of communion, a sacrament) infused with a very specific meaning and purpose and to adopt it for another reason. It's up to you to decide whether or not you fit the criteria listed in the missal. Unless you make a big show of not being in communion, no one is going to question you during it.

At the wedding that we attended where everyone was offered communion (the Archbishop specifically invited all: Christian or Jew, Catholic, Muslim or atheist) all the Jews just looked around the Church in bewilderment. None of us went up. My husband, educated as an Episcopalian, didn't go.

Incidentally if my son marries his girlfriend this will be a very new experience: She is far more religiously Jewish than my family ever has been since we immigrated 150 years ago. She said that she will walk around the chuppah seven times (a mystical number meant to establish a new home safe from outsiders....be they demons or in laws) and have the "full" service. It will be lovely.

........and yes, I'm aware that I'm an in law.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by ellebud

Incidentally if my son marries his girlfriend this will be a very new experience: She is far more religiously Jewish than my family ever has been since we immigrated 150 years ago. She said that she will walk around the chuppah seven times (a mystical number meant to establish a new home safe from outsiders....be they demons or in laws) and have the "full" service. It will be lovely.

........and yes, I'm aware that I'm an in law.

I love chuppahs (both the look and the symbolism. As a Christian, I take a bit of an interest in Judaism because they're sort of related. Kinda.)

I don't want to turn this into a "look at all the chuppahs" thread but seriously:







Beautiful.

Sidenote: I'd be interested in your take on this, ellebud. I've seen some couples opting for suspended style chuppahs (as in no poles.) In the eyes of some more traditional Jews, no poles = not a chuppah. Some people say that as long as the covering is there, and the symbolism, it still is. What say you?

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by ellebud

Incidentally if my son marries his girlfriend this will be a very new experience: She is far more religiously Jewish than my family ever has been since we immigrated 150 years ago. She said that she will walk around the chuppah seven times (a mystical number meant to establish a new home safe from outsiders....be they demons or in laws) and have the "full" service. It will be lovely.

Does she want a Yichud room? That's one of my favorite customs of Jewish weddings. I really like the emphasis in Judaism on the couple being a separate entity from their families of origin.

One wedding I attended, the chuppah was covered by the bride and groom's fathers' tallits (prayer shawls). Simple, elegant, and meaningful.