Jewish wedding ring

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A Jewish wedding ring is a ring that is used in a Jewish ritual wedding ceremony.

Put the ring on the index finger (historical photo, Israel 1952).

The putting on of the ring

The bride and groom stand under the wedding canopy ( chuppah ) in the presence of two witnesses and the rabbi . They take a sip of wine; the groom turns to the bride and speaks the formula:

הֲרֵי אַתְּ מְקֻדֶּֽשֶׁת לִי בְּטַבַּֽעַת זוּ כְּדַת מֹשֶׁה וְיִשְׂרָאֵל

Harei at mequddeschet li betaba'at su kedat Moshe weJisrael

"You are sanctified to me with this ring according to the religion of Moses and Israel."

This is the only sentence the groom has to say during the ritual. With it he puts the ring on the index finger of the bride's right hand. This act does not symbolize the marriage, but carries it out.

So there is no ring change. (In an egalitarian wedding, the bride also gives the groom a ring.)

The properties of the ring according to the Halacha

According to the religious law , the groom “acquires” the bride with precious metal, i. that is, the ring must represent a certain value. Therefore, the ring should be made of gold, cast from one piece, without decorations and without gemstones. The groom must also be the owner of the ring, otherwise the marriage is not legal.

It is not necessary, but has become common over time, for the groom to purchase a second ring to put on himself; both rings should be equivalent. In Orthodox Judaism, however, it is unusual for men to wear wedding rings.

Wedding rings throughout history

In Talmudic times, the “acquisition” of the bride did not take place with a ring, but with money. In the European Middle Ages the custom arose for the groom to put a ring on the bride as part of the ritual; and in a subsequent step, if the ring met certain requirements (see above), it replaced the transfer of money. This means that the oldest Jewish wedding rings do not have to be made of gold without decorations according to the Halacha, because they were not yet used for "acquisition".

Jewish wedding rings in treasure finds

Medieval finds of coins and pieces of jewelery sometimes also include a Jewish wedding ring; this attribution is due to the Hebrew inscription מזל טוב ( Masal tov , ie "good luck!" - a common congratulation at a Jewish wedding). The rings are usually made of gold and have a top in the form of a temple, which symbolizes the Jerusalem temple . It is believed that such a ring was only worn during the wedding ritual and was the property of the Jewish community. A connection between the landfills and the plague pogroms is likely. Well-known examples:

  1. Jewish wedding ring from Erfurt
  2. Ring in the treasure of Colmar
  3. Ring in the jewelry find of Weißenfels
Wedding rings in the Judaica Collection of the Israel Museum , Jerusalem.

16th century rings

The shape of the ring with the inscription מזל טוב and a miniature building as an attachment was still popular, as a gold ring in the treasury of the Residenz in Munich shows. In this case it is a "five-tower structure framed by volutes."

The Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer has a different type of ring that comes from southwest Germany. It is a 1.1 cm wide circlet, made of bronze and gold-plated. In addition to the inscription טל בוב, it has gold crowns as decorative elements on three pages and an open book on the fourth page.

Modern wedding rings

In some places, Yemeni goldsmiths have specialized in making wedding rings that conform to the halacha conventions, but instead of a gold ring consist of a decorative string of Hebrew letters. Popular Bible verses include:

  • אני לדודי ודודי לי "I belong to my beloved, and my beloved is mine." (Song of Songs 6,3. Holy 6,3  EU )
  • ואהבת עולם אהבתיך "I love you with everlasting love." (Jeremiah 31,3. Jer 31,3  EU )

See also

  • Qiddushin (Mishnah or Talmud tract, which develops the religious law regarding marriage)

literature

  • Israel Meir Lau : How Jews live, faith - everyday life - festivals, (translation of the Hebrew original edition, Givatayim 1978, by Miriam Magall) Gütersloh 1988. ISBN 3-579-02155-9 .
  • Historisches Museum der Pfalz Speyer (ed.): Europe's Jews in the Middle Ages (exhibition catalog), Ostfildern 2004.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Israel Meir Lau: How Jews Live . S. 329 .
  2. ↑ Israel Meir Lau: How Jews Live . S. 317-318 .
  3. ↑ Should Men Wear Wedding Rings. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
  4. ^ A b Ivan G. Marcus: The Jewish Life Cycle: Rites of Passage from Biblical to Modern Times . University of Washington Press, 2012, pp. 147 .
  5. ↑ a b Europe's Jews in the Middle Ages . S. 198-199 .