MENT], and _Intel i.e., the white burial garment, in harmony with his position and in pro portion to the dowry. The marriage is to be (D. v.) on the . . . in the place . . . at the expense of the said C, the bride's father ; and if agreed to by both parties, may take place within the specified period. Now the t,wo parties have pledged themselves to all this, and have taken upon themselves by an oath to abide by it, on the penalty of the great anathema, and at the peril of forfeiting half the dowry, but the forfeit is not to absolve from the anathema, nor is the anathema to absolve from the forfeit. The said father of the bride also undertakes to board at his table the newly-married couple for the space of . . . and furnish them with lodgings for the space of . . . The surety on the part of the bridegroom is E, son of F ; and on the part of the bride, G, son of H. The two bridal parties, however, guarantee that these sureties shall not suffer thereby. Farther, C, the said father of the bride, is to give his daughter an assurance letter, that, in the event of his death, she is to get half the inheritance of a son (•1.:VI ; whilst the bridegroom pledges himself to get his brothers, in the event of his dying without issue, to give her a Chaliza document [for which see below], without any compensation. But if there should be dispute or delay on the subject, which God forbid, the decision is to be left to the Jewish congregation. We have taken all this in posses sion from the party and sureties, for the benefit of the other parties, so that everything afore men tioned may be observed ; with the usual witness which qualified us to take care of it. Done this day . . . Everything must be observed and kept. (Signed) .. .' (Comp. Nachlas Shiva, 9 b). This contract, which is written in Rabbinic Hebrew, is used by all orthodox Jews to the present day.
2. Marriage.—The proper age for marriage is fixed in the Mishna at eighteen (Wolfe, v. 31), and though, for the sake of preserving morality, puberty was regarded as the desirable age, yet men gene rally married when they were seventeen (j ebamoth, 62; Kiddushin, 29). The day originally fixed for marriage was Wednesday for maidens and Friday for widows (Afishna, Kethuboth, i. 1). But the Talmud already partially discarded this arrange ment (Gemara, ibid, 3 a), and in the middle ages it became quite obsolete (Ebel: Ha-Ezar, lxv.) The primitive practice of the sages, however, has been resumed among the orthodox Jews in Russia, Poland, etc. The wedding feast was celebrated in the house of the bridegroom (Kethoboth, 8 a, so a) and in the evening, for the bridal pair fasted all day, since on it, as on the day of atonement, they confessed their sins, and their transgressions were forgiven. On the day of the wedding, the bride, with her hair flowing and a myrtle wreath on her head (if she was a maiden, Mishna Kethuboth, r), was conducted, with music, singing, and dancing, to the .house of the bridegroom, by her relations and friends, who were adorned with chap lets of myrtle, and carried palm branches in their hands (Kethieboth, 16, 17 ; Sabbath, no a ; Sota, 49 b). The streets through which the nuptial procession passed were lined with the daughters of Israel, who greeted the joyous train, and scattered before them cakes and roasted ears of wheat, whilst fountains freely poured forth wine (Kethu both, 15 b ; Berachoth, 5o b). Having reached the house, the bridegroom, accompanied by the groom's men, met the bride, took her by the hand, and led her to the threshold. The Ke thuba donatio proper or ante nuptias, or the marriage-settlement, alluded to in the book of Tobit (vii. r5), was then written, which in the case of a maiden always promises zoo, and in the case of a widow too denar (each denar being equal to go grains of pure gold), whether the parties are rich or poor (.11fishna, Ketkuboth, i. 2), though it may be enlarged by a special covenant (t11tvr1 nzo:). The marriage must not be celebrated before this settlement is written (Baba Kama, 89). The wording of this instrument has undergone various changes in the course of time (Kethuboth, 82 b). The form in which it is given in the Tal mud, by Maimonides, etc., is as follows : Upon the fourth day of the week, on the . . of the month, in the year . . of the creation of the world, according to the computation adopted in this place, A, son of B, said to C, spinster, daughter of E, Be thou my wife according to the law of Moses and Israel, and I will work for thee, honour thee, maintain thee, and provide for thee according to the custom of Jewish husbands, who work for their wives, honour them, maintain them, and provide for them honestly ; I also give thee the dowry of thy virginity, 200 silver Sus, which belong to thee by the law, as well as thy food, thy apparel, and whatsoever is required for thy maintenance, and I will go in to thee according to the custom of the whole earth.' And C, the spinster, consented, and became his wife. The dowry which she brought him from the house of her father, in silver, gold, and ornaments, as well as in apparel, do mestic utensils, and bedding, amounts to . .
pure silver, and A the bridegroom has consented to add to it from his own property the same sum; and the bridegroom said thus, I undertake for myself and my heirs after me the security for this Kethzeba, this dowry and this addition, so that the same shall be paid from the best and most choice of my possessions which I have under the whole heaven, which I have acquired or shall acquire in real or personal property. All this property is to be mortgaged and pledged, yea, even the coat which I have on is to go in order to pay this Kethuba, this dowry and this addition, from this day to all eternity.' And the surety of this Kethuba, this dowry and this addition, A, the bridegroom, has undertaken in the strictness of all the Kethubas and supplement instruments usual among the daughters of Israel, and which are written accord ing to the order of our sages of blessed memory, not after the manner of a mere visionary promise or empty formula. We have taken possession of it from A, the bridegroom, and given it to C, spinster, daughter of D, according to all that is written and explained above, by means of such a garment as is legal in the taking of possession. All this is yea and amen. (Signed) . . .' Comp. Maimonides, dad Ha Chazaka Hilchoth 'dam Ve Cheliza, iv. 33. After the document was handed over to the bride, crowns, varying in expense according to the circumstances of the parties, were placed upon the heads of the bridal pair (Sofa 49, a, b), and they with their relations and friends sat down to a sumptuous repast; the marriage-feast was enlivened by the guests, who sang various songs and asked each other amusing riddles (Berachoth, 31 a; Nea'arint, 51 a), parched corn was distri buted among the guests if the bride was a virgin (Keth. ii.), and when the meal was concluded with customary prayer of thanksgiving, the bride groom supplemented it with pronouncing over a cup of wine the seven nuptial benedictions rnriz) in the presence of at least ten persons (Kethuboth, ry b), which gave the last religious consecration to the marriage-covenant, and which are as follows :—i. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast created every thing for thy glory.' ii. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast created man.' iii. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast created man in thine image, in the image of the likeness of thy own form, and hast prepared for him, in himself, a building for the perpetuity of the species. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, the creator of man.' iv. 'The barren woman shall rejoice exceedingly and shout for ioy when her children are gathered around her in delight. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who rejoicest Zion in her children.' v. Make this loving pair to rejoice exceedingly, as thou hast made thy crea ture rejoice in the garden of Eden in the beginning. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who rejoicest the bride groom and the bride.' vi. 'Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast ordained joy and gladness, bride and bridegroom, delight and song, pleasure and intimacy, love and friendship, peace and concord ; speedily, 0 Lord our God, let there be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of jubilant bridegrooms under their canopies, and of the young men at the nuptial feast playing music. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, who makest the bride groom rejoice with his bride.' And vii. 'Remove all suffering and anger ; then will the dumb be heard in song; lead us in the paths of righteous ness, listen to the benedictions of the children of Jeshurun ! With the permission of our seniors and rabbins, and my masters, let us bless our God in whose dwelling is joy, and of whose bounties we have partaken ! ' to which the guests respond : Blessed be our God, in whose dwelling is joy, of whose bounties we have partaken, and by whose goodness we live ;' and he then answers, Then let us bless our God, in whose dwelling is joy, of whose bounties we have partaken, and by whose goodness we live' (Kethuboth, 7 h, 8). The married couple were then conducted to an elaborately ornamented nuptial chamber (r1D1n), where the bridal couch (thalamus) was carefully prepared, and at the pro duction of the linteum virginitatis the following morning (Dent. xxii. 13-21), which was anxiously awaited, the following benediction was pronounced by the bridegroom, Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast placed a nut in paradise, the rose of the valleys—a stranger must not rule over this sealed fountain; this is why the hind of love has preserved the holy seed in purity, and has not broken the compact. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who hast chosen Abraham and his seed after him !' (comp. Halaehath Gedoloth, ed. Vienna, 51 b, and Pliny, Hist. Watur. xv. 24, where an explanation will be found of the use of N, nut, in this connection). Festivities continued for seven days (Kethuboth, 7 a).