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Uniting people in wedlock
according to the old Jewish customs and with the pomp and display which
indicates their Oriental origin is one of the industries which always
flourishes in the New York ghetto and which is affected by none of the
mercantile or political disturbances that frequently influence ordinary
business. East Side weddings come under the head of business because
they give employment to many people, and these and the many public halls
where most of the weddings take place could not exist if the business
fell off.
Such a thing as a strictly quiet wedding, with no witnesses except the
immediate members of the family, is almost unknown in the Jewish
quarter. When the wedding contract has been signed and the shadchen's
work completed, there is usually an engagement party at which the
parents of the bride-elect make public announcement of the engagement of
their daughter and break a glass in the presence of their guests to
indicate that the contract is not fragile, like the works of man, and
cannot be broken like them.
All those who come to the
engagement party are usually asked to the wedding ceremony, and receive
invitations which are printed on fancy embossed cards in English and
Yiddish, and sometimes in German also. These invitations are worded
nearly like the ordinary wedding invitation, but in every instance a
line follows the address where the ceremony will take place, which tells
the "bride's residence."
DIFFERENT DEGREES OF
MAGNIFICENCE.
The people who are the least blessed with worldly goods have the
ceremony performed at the home of the bride; those who have more hire
the synagogue for the occasion, and those who are of the highest circle
in the ghetto have the ceremony performed in the synagogue and hire a
hall for the wedding dance and dinner. But the largest number of
weddings takes place in the halls which are arranged for the purpose.
These halls usually contain a women's reception room, a dining room, and
a ballroom, and are rented for evening weddings and balls for from $5 to
$10. This does not include what is known as the "hatbox," where the
wardrobe of the guests is left. The proprietor of the hall usually
charges from 10 to 30 cents a couple for taking care of hats and wraps.
"When people are very swell," said the proprietor of one of these halls,
"they hire the hatbox, and their guests don't have to pay for
hatchecks."
The invitations usually give five or six o'clock as the hour for the
ceremony, and at the time named the bride and bridegroom arrive with
their respective kinspeople. The bride is attired in white satin and
long veil, and has many flowers; the man is in evening clothes. They
take stations in different rooms, and as the guests arrive the ceremony
of Kabolath-ponim, or presenting, takes place. This lasts until
the guests have all arrived - generally an hour or two later than the
time named on the invitation cards - and then, if it is a large company,
the young people have a dance or two. This over, the bridegroom takes
his place under the chupah, or canopy, in the large hall, and there
awaits the coming of his bride, who is brought to him by her father. The
chupah, or canopy, has been an important feature in the Jewish wedding
ceremonial ever since there has been any record. One of the East Side
rabbis said that a verse of the Bible refers plainly to the "joyous
voice of the bridegroom from under the chupah."
THE CANOPY AND ITS
SIGNIFICANCE.
The canopy is made of velvet and may be of any color, although it is
usually purple or deep red; it is trimmed with gold lace, and has the
Star of David embroidered in gold on one end. Under this canopy, which
symbolizes the future home of the family, the bride is taken by her
parents, and the rabbi performs the marriage ceremony. When the couple
have taken wine from the same glass to show that they will be partners
in joy, and the ring has been placed on the bride's finger, a glass is
again broken, which ceremony the rabbi explained thus:
"At no joyous occasion should the Jew forget that the glory of the
Jewish nation is broken. The broken glass reminds him of that. It also
reminds the young people that sooner or later all must return to dust:
and, even like the beautiful glass, be shattered and destroyed."
The ceremony over, everybody congratulates his neighbor as well as the
bridal couple, and then, under the leadership of the chief actors, the
whole party goes to the dining room, where luncheon is served. Since
early in the morning the kitchen has been in charge of a Kochfrau, under
whose direction a luncheon as well as a supper, which is served later in
the evening, has been prepared. The luncheon lasts only a short time,
and then the dancing begins and lasts until supper is served at about 11
o'clock.
The synagogue wedding, when the chupah is reared in the sanctuary, is
more expensive than the hall wedding, because, aside from the fee paid
to the rabbi and the hall rent, there is an expense of $5 for the use of
the synagogue. There are several Jewish houses of worship on the East
Side which are particularly popular, and the one at No. 38 Henry Street
rarely has less than two and frequently as many as four weddings on a
Sunday.
DANCING SCHOOL AND
SANCTUARY.
There is a hall in East
Broadway where many of these weddings and wedding balls take place which
is used on two nights every week as a dancing school. The sanctuary,
containing the sacred scroll behind embroidered curtains, is at one end.
The little sign on the wall with the words "No refusals" seems to clash,
until one is told that "No refusals" is posted for the benefit of
fastidious East Side maidens, who are warned in that way not to bring
about any unpleasantness in the dancing class by refusing to dance with
any "gent." At two points in the hall there are automatic machines,
where a cent in the slot brings forth a dash of perfume, and a
dumbwaiter communicates with the bar, which is in the basement. |