The Greeks aren't the only ones smashing things. In the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, the penultimate part is the Sheva Brachos, or seven blessings. After the blessings, the couple share (for the second time) in drinking a cup of wine, and the groom breaks a glass with his right foot by stamping on it. This custom apparently dates back to Talmudic times and is intended to symbolise the Temple in Jerusalem being destroyed. A utensil is broken to show identification with the sorrow of Jewish exile – a breaking of hearts. Everyone then shouts Mazaltov! and the band starts playing and all begin dancing.
A modern interpretation is that this is the last time the groom gets to put his foot down...or that it is a warning to the couple that life together won't always be as happy as that day...or that human relationships are fragile.
Or it means breaking ties to the past...or refers to a broken world...
Modern ceremonies might have the couple breaking the glass together and sometimes a Rabbi might say "May your marriage last as long as it takes to put the glass back together", which is of course forever since the glass cannot be repaired. Although it could be reblown, rather like reincarnation in another life...
A symbol of plenty – the shards represent the children from the union...
Perhaps it's the bride's hymen about to be broken...(or is that the veil?)
There is also the custom of breaking the plate - at the beginning of the wedding the mothers of the bride and groom get together and smash a very large plate. The pieces of the plate are given to the bride-to-be. If the plate is decorated with words from the Torah and she gets a piece with a whole word on it, she feels very lucky. Left over pieces might be made into a mosaic...
Blimey, wedding customs are pretty weird stuff, and there are so many similarities across religions...veils, canopies, silver spoons...breaking a cake over the bride's head...even though customs may be old and inherited, they are also borrowed, added to and tampered with...worth a project in itself.
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