Remembrance and Breaking the Glass at the Wedding Ceremony

Name: Slovakia, Mr. and Mrs. Breiner, on their wedding day. Belongs to collection: Yad Vashem Photo Archive   Additional Information:  The Breiner family  were friends of the Gal family. The entire family perished in the Holocaust.  Origin: Shoshana Meir  Places: CZECHOSLOV​AKIA Credit: Yad Vashem Name of submitter: Nina Shpringer Aharoni   Archival Signature: 6037/29

They say that "there is nothing new under the sun".  In fashion, it seems that every "modern" idea or concept begins with a look backwards at old or even ancient styles and trends.  While planning my new photo shoot layout for late summer/fall/winter bridal hairstyling and makeup looks, I began to think about the looks and styles of the 20s, 30s and 40s of the last century.  Inevitably, that  period of time has me thinking about the Shoah, especially as we came closer to the month of Av. 

The 'Nine Day' period, from Rosh Chodesh Av and through the end of the Fast of Tisha B'Av **, always gets me thinking about the significance of the Fast, the meaning of the groom breaking of the glass at the end of the wedding ceremony and that inevitably leads me back  to thinking about the Shoah.   (** For more information about the Fast, please see the end of this article).  

Let's take a moment to look at the groom breaking the glass at the end of the wedding ceremony.

When does the groom break the glass?  The glass is broken at the very end of the ceremony; after the ring is given, the wine is drunk, the Ketuva is read and the Sheva Brachot are recited.

What does the groom say just before he breaks the glass?

אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי! תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי אִם לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי, אִם לֹא אַעֲלֶה אֶת יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַל רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִי! תהלים קל"ז 6-5

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.  Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not, if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joys!  Psalms 137 5-56  

Why does the groom break the glass at the end of the wedding ceremony?  The most widely accepted reason for this custom is that no happiness can be complete so long as the Beit Hamikdash has not been  rebuilt.  For Jews, a wedding celebration is considered the very pinnacle of joy for the bride and groom, the individual families and the community as a whole.  Yet, as we still mourn the loss the Beit Hamikdash and the loss of our true autonomy in this land, we cannot experience complete joy.  Breaking the glass symbolizes that incompleteness.

As this recent Tisha B'Av Fast ended and I began to deal once again with weddings and bridal hairstyles and makeup, I developed a strong need to see photographs of Jewish weddings from BEFORE the Shoah.  To witness the happiness of the European Jewish community before it was decimated.

As you look at these pictures of Jewish weddings in pre-World War II Europe, I want you to remember the fleeting happiness of these brides and grooms, of their hopes and wishes for a future that, for so many, never came true.  Look into the faces of these brides and grooms and remember them.  All photographs are reprinted with the kind permission of the Yad Vashem, Israel.  (http://www.yadvashem.org/)

  

Picture above Name: Maehr Ostrau, Czechoslov​akia, Sidi and Sami's wedding, 1933.  Belongs to collection: Yad Vashem Photo Archive Places: MAEHR. OSTRAU,CZE​CHOSLOVAKI​A  Credit: Yad Vashem   Name of submitter: Norma Huven  Archival Signature: 8294/6

Picture above  Name: A photograph of a couple on their wedding day, before the war. Belongs to: Yad Vashem Photo Archive  The album includes: -Photos from elementary school, and a school trip in June 1940. -Photos from the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement: the "Against the Stream" group, March 1940; Summer and Winter sessions, 1940; excursion in Spring 1941. All the photos are from 1925-1945, with the exception of photos of the parents at the end, which were taken in Berlin, 1966. Origin: אווה פרקש  Credit: Yad Vashem Name of submitter:  אווה פרקש  Archival Signature: 7171/24

Picture above Name: Monastir, Yugoslavia​, A Jewish couple on their wedding day, Prewar.  Belongs to collection: Yad Vashem Photo Archive   Origin:  Gabriel Albocher   Places:  MONASTIR,Y​UGOSLAVIA  Credit:  Yad Vashem  Name of submitter:  Nina Shpringer Aharoni   Archival Signature: 6214/46

Picture above  Name: Lodz, Poland, A photo from a wedding in the ghetto, at the center - the bride. Belongs to collection: Yad Vashem Photo Archive   Additional Information:  The photograph​s were taken by various Jewish photograph​ers and cover all aspects of life in the ghetto.  Origin:  Lodz State Archives   Credit: Yad Vashem   Archival Signature:  7317/5136

Picture above  Name: Lodz, Poland, A paramedic and his wife in a group photo on their wedding day in the ghetto.    Belongs to collection: Yad Vashem Photo Archive   Additional Information:   The photograph​s were taken by various Jewish photograph​ers and cover all aspects of life in the ghetto.  Origin: Lodz State Archives   Credit: Yad Vashem   Archival Signature:  7317/5135

Picture above   Name: Lodz, Poland, Two couples on their wedding day in the ghetto, chairman of the Judenrat Rumkowski behind them, 26/06/1943​.  Belongs to collection: Yad Vashem Photo Archive   Additional Information: The photograph​s were taken by various Jewish photograph​ers and cover all aspects of life in the ghetto.  Origin: Lodz State Archives    Credit: Yad Vashem   Archival Signature: 7317/5127

יהי רצון שיבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימינו

** About the Nine Days and the Fast of Tisha B'Av:  The somberness of this period actually begins three weeks preceding the Fast of Tisha B'Av, beginning with the Fast of the 17^th of Tamuz.  From this point and until the day after Tisha B'Av, no weddings are celebrated.  The sadness of this mourning period intensifies during the period of the Nine Days (from the 1^st day of Av and through the Fast of the Ninth (Tisha) of Av), as many refrain from additional activities such as drinking wine, eating meat, swimming and buying new clothes, etc. 

It is said that the Jewish people suffered five catastrophes on Tisha B'Av: 1) during the time of Moshe Rabenu, the spies gave a false report regarding the Land of Israel, 2) and 3) the First and Second Bayeit Hamikdash (Temples) were destroyed, 4) Bar Kochva's revolt against the Roman's was crushed and 5) Jerusalem was rebuilt as a pagan city (after the destruction of the Beit Ha'Mikdash).  In addition, many other tragedies have befallen the Jews throughout the ages, including: the First Crusade that began on this date in 1096, the Jews were expelled from England on this date in 1290, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain began on this day in 1492 and on the eve of the Fast in 1942 mass deportations began in the Warsaw Ghetto.