What are Tenaim?
Definition of tenaim 1 : formal prenuptial conditions or agreement made at a Jewish betrothal ceremony. 2 : a Jewish social function announcing an engagement.
What happens at a Tenaim ceremony?
The Tenaim ceremony declares the upcoming nuptials by reading a document of lifelong commitment and shattering a dish! Closer to the wedding is the Aufruf, where the groom (or the couple) recites a blessing over the Torah and is showered with candy.
Why do Jews break plate?
It’s thought to be a reference to a separate tradition of breaking a plate when a binding contract is sealed, symbolizing its irreversibility. It’s also traditional to break a plate following an engagement agreement between the couple.
What is Tish and Bedeken?
Ashira and Avi’s traditional Jewish wedding ceremony at began with a Tisch and Bedeken—a custom where men and women celebrate separately before the groom is marched in to see his bride amid a huge amount of excitement and fanfare.
Why does the bride wear something old?
The tradition of a bride wearing “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,” comes from an Old English rhyme. Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity.
What is Birkat erusin?
The erusin is preceded by a blessing over wine and then the bircat erusin (betrothal blessing). Originally the blessings were recited by the groom but today it is more common for someone else to recite them such as the wedding’s Rabbi.
What does it mean to sign a Tenaim?
It can be calligraphied, witnessed, and formalized by the act of kinyan, a symbolic exchange of some object that seals a contract and effects a change in personal status. Or tenaim can be handwritten or typed and entirely original. You can read your “contract” before a community of family and friends at a party or keep it private.
Can a Tenaim be typed or handwritten?
Or tenaim can be handwritten or typed and entirely original. You can read your “contract” before a community of family and friends at a party or keep it private. Written tenaim might simply consist of letters the bride and groom write and perhaps exchange at their engagement celebration.
Is the signing of Tenaim required by Jewish law?
Tenaim is not required by Jewish law, and as family-arranged weddings became a thing of the past, the ceremony lost much of its meaning and popularity. The signing of traditional tenaim remains a vestigial practice in some Jewish communities, where the agreement to marry is signed on the day of the wedding itself.
How does Tenaim affect the season of the wedding?
Every engagement announces that two people are changing their status; the public declaration of their decision instantly designates them bride and groom. Tenaim kicks off the season of the wedding, officially and Jewishly.