Rabbi David Gruber describes a beguiling experience of officiating a unique interfaith wedding 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 posses officiated was Shreeti and Jon’s I co-officiated with Shreeti’s family’s lay intellectual (Hindu priest), Jaysurya (“Jay”) Upadhyaya It was bewitching to see how these two faiths, one Western and one Eastern, came together in one ceremony, and how many parallels exist between the matrimonial rituals of both
The ceremony began at the entrance, with Shreeti’s mother waving a wand over Jon to shy away spirits This Hindu tradition is identical to the Jewish tradition of beginning the ceremony with the bride and groom’s mothers leading the bride around the groom to similarly protect him In unanimity with Hindu tradition, Jon then broke a clay pot to symbolically empty any obstacles to the marriage
The ceremony itself was held beneath a mandap, a Hindu ceremonial tester that turns the flawless field underneath 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, moderately than the quarters of worship, which manner that home and shrine are uncommonly much one and the same.
At mixed points during the Hindu portions of the ceremony, folks made offerings to different deities This usually involves Sanskrit chanting by the pundit, the tossing of the offering into inflame and the marking of the thing with compound These are remarkably celebrated parts of the ceremony, as the favor of the deities is seen as important to a life of happiness for the new issue being created under 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 slice of the ceremony with traditional, welcoming blessings and towards the final holy the span with the Priestly Blessing
In a Jewish wedding, parents and loved ones are brought under the chuppah with the bride and groom This is true of a Hindu nuptial too Shreeti’s parents spent allowance of the ceremony beneath the mandap, made an offering and even washed Shreeti and Jon’s feet, beseeching him to promote their daughter as an equal fellow Later in the ceremony, young members from both sides, including Jon’s parents, joined Shreeti and Jon under the mandap, and made offerings, which the couple, circling a minor haven four times, threw into the ignite The circling symbolizes the couple’s commitment to remaining true to one’s values, providing for the family, recipience fulfillment and achieving education Every circumstance 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 span would symbol the Jewish ketubah, a docket where they would cede themselves to essentially the duplicate ideals celebrated while chime the altar
One of the most pronounced resemblances between the matrimonial traditions of both faiths is the centrality of the unit seven The Hindu tradition has the Satapadi or Seven Vows, and the Jewish tradition has the Seven Blessings Jon laid Shreeti’s tall toe on each of seven decorated shells respectively, while Jay chanted the Satapadi, swearing the pair to live with honor and respect, be happy, share in all, not forget their elders, be charitable, be soundless and passion and abandonment for each other. I followed with the chanting of the Seven Blessings, which celebrate creation in general, universe of man, cosmos of woman, the hope of return to Zion and the feelings and happiness of the bride and groom and their loved ones
Both traditions include the bride and groom sharing sweet food (in Hinduism) or sweet wine (in Judaism) to symbolize everyone’s anthem that the couple will enjoy a sweet life together Shreeti and Jon shared candy and dried fruit, in unanimity with the Hindu tradition.
Jon then put a necklace on Shreeti’s neck, the Hindu duplicate to putting a orb on his bride’s finger. (Both faiths, being in their traditional lair patriarchal, hold the groom putting the jewelry on the bride and not vice versa) Shreeti and Jon then peruse extraordinary 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 confessed them husband and wife, Jon recent the ceremony, logical as he started it by breaking item This time, in agreement with Jewish tradition, he broke a glass I explained it as symbolizing the breaking down of barriers between different cultures and faiths a remarkably fitting answer 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 bestow felt so authenticated 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 perceptive to enlightenment about each other’s faiths and communicated well themselves. These officiants were sorrow on moulding the various parts of the ceremony mesh well together Most importantly, while each descendants expressed their wishes to feel varied rituals from their respective traditions, it seemed like they were even other parsimonious to make sure that the further side’s wishes were being met
It was really heart-warming to stroke how concerned these family were regarding each other’s passion It has been spoken that true passion practice caring about your loved one’s feelings, as you much as you care about yours This couple, their families and all involved showed this kimd 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 thing was top admitted on wwwinterfaithfamily.com