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Jewish%20Wedding%20Ceremonies.pptx

Many of the traditions of Jewish wedding ceremonies are symbolic of events that occurred in the Hebrew Scriptures, such as creation and events in the lives of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In fact, the Talmud, (Jewish religious commentary) says that it is through marriage that we become a complete person. Marriage is often considered by Jewish thought to be a representation of the union of God and the nation of Israel. Because of this, there are many regal aspects to Jewish wedding customs.

A very important part of the Jewish wedding ceremony is the Ketubah, or marriage contract. The first record of the use of a Ketubah was for recording how much the groom had paid the father of the bride for her, and also named the bride as the beneficiary in the case of the husband’s death. Now, the Ketubah is used for outlining religious and financial expectations for the couple. It is signed by the two witnesses as well as the bride and groom and the rabbi.

According to Jewish Law, the only people that must be present at the wedding are the bride, the groom, and two witnesses in order for the marriage to be legal and binding. These witnesses must be Jewish, adults, and not related to either the bride or groom by either blood or marriage. Their jobs are to ascertain that the bride and groom meet the standards outlined in the Ketubah, that the rings meet the standards for Jewish law, and are also responsible for witnessing Yichud, which are the few minutes the Bride and groom spend together directly after the ceremony to symbolize the consummation of their marriage.

Another part of the ceremony is Bedeken, the veiling ceremony. Bedeken symbolizes when Rebekah, covered herself when she first approached Isaac, her husband, and the tradition of the groom covering the bride is in remembrance of how Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah because she veiled herself.

During the Processional, usually the groom and the bride are both escorted to the chuppah by their parents, and it is customary for the groom to arrive at the chuppah first, symbolizing how Adam was created first and then Eve, and Eve was escorted by God to Adam.

Hakafot, the custom of the bride circling the groom, has several different interpretations, such as creation of a new household, the seven days of creation, walking around Jericho seven times symbolizing the breaking down of walls in their relationship, etc.

A sample of the Sheva Brachot, or Seven Blessings that are spoken over the couple during the ceremony is “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, creator of joy and gladness, groom and bride, mirth and song, delight and rejoicing, love and harmony, peace and friendship.”

The marriage ceremony takes place under the Chuppah. In ancient times, the Chuppah symbolized the passing of the bride from her father’s authority to that of her husband. However, throughout the Middle Ages the meaning changed throughout different regions, to mean either a representation of the wedding veil, or just simply a canopy under which the ceremony is performed.

Jewish wedding customs have evolved into several different times, including Conservative, in which the Ketubah is in original Aramaic. However, Jewish Law now requires the addition of the Lieberman Clause, which allows the wife the right to divorce as well, a right she was not given by the original Ketubah contract. During Reform weddings, the husband and wife take part in the ceremonies equally, doing such things together as the reading of the Torah, or the veiling ceremony, that were previously only done by men. Deviating from the traditional where they see fit, Secular Humanist weddings focus on identification with cultural Judaism, with less emphasis on religious law. And finally, Reconstructionist weddings reinterpret traditions with values of openness and community acceptance, with a focus on social justice.

The use of traditional customs and laws mixed with values that the bride and groom see as relevant to their relationship and their views on life create an endless array of options to chose from in designing a wedding ceremony, reflective of the way Jewish people have maintained their cultural identity while still remaining attuned to their role in the global community.

From seeing the cultural presentations of my classmates, it is interesting to note how different cultures have different aspects of life on which they focus their attention, and through which they create meaning for themselves as individuals and as a community. The evil eye and the superstition surrounding it plays a large part in Turkish culture, while for Jewish/Israeli culture there are many ritual cleansings and ceremonies that take place for many occasions. Both kinds of traditions, however, are designed to represent spiritual forces or deities beyond the control of the people. Every culture, it seems, has their own unique way of representing their spiritual aspects. These forms of representation have evolved from their role as spiritual symbols to being a focal point of the entire culture, such as the way the symbol that defends against the evil eye has become standard on everything from socks to cookies in Turkey. Even Jewish/Israeli foods, such as latkes, represent aspects related to the spiritual; the oil in the latkes represents the oil in the temple that miraculously did not burn out.

Religious influences rise to a whole new level in Iran when the government regulates filmmaking in accordance with the strict Islamic fundamentalist moral and religious code, and cultural representation is not allowed to flourish through the medium of the media. Therefore, depending on the level of control and regulation imposed on religious customs, customs will either evolve and broaden in meaning or be forced to remain the same.

The word “Aliyah” means “to go up”, or “ascension”, and signifies the return of Jewish people to their historic homeland of Israel. The 1948 “Declaration of the Establishment of the state of Israel” states that “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and the ingathering of exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel”. Furthermore, the 1950 Law of Return states that any Jewish person immigrating to Israel will be granted citizenship.

Since its founding, the nation of Israel has experienced immigration on a huge scale. Some immigrants come, motivated by the historic and Biblical ties of the Jewish people to the land that forms the nation of Israel, that was promised by God to Abraham in a covenant to belong to him and his descendants forever. Others come motivated by the ideals of Zionism, seeing Israel as a place for the persecuted, oppressed Jewish people to seek refuge and form a national identity of their own. Throughout Israel’s short history, waves of Jewish immigrants have come to the country, many from war-torn, impoverished areas, or from Arab countries in the Middle East where they were no longer welcome after the establishment of the nation of Israel. Many of the large scale immigration movements could be equated to rescue missions, such as Operation Magic Carpet in 1949 that airlifted 46,000 Jews from Yemen, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah in 1951 that airlifted 121,000 Jews from Iraq, and the evacuation in the years 1984 and 1991 Operations Moses and Solomon secretly evacuated 22,200 Jews from war-torn and famine ridden Ethiopia.

Israel has worked hard to make the transition process as smooth as possible for their new immigrants, providing help with housing, job training, and whatever else the immigrants are in need of, including offering Ulpanim, or intensive Hebrew language courses. The many different ethnic groups that have come to Israel as a result of their openness to new Jewish immigrants has created a very diverse culture, but one that is held together by a common bond of being Jewish. The mandatory military service that all able citizens must take part in is another factor contributing to the national sense of unity. Today, Israel keeps watch over Jewish communities in high risk areas, waiting in readiness to receive them. The ideals of a Jewish state that is a sanctuary for the faith and culture of the Jewish community endeavors to create a desire to make Aliyah and return to the homeland among the Jewish community throughout the world.

The Journey of Vaan Nguyen was a film that gave a compelling, realistic look at the struggles of a Vietnamese refugee family trying to assimilate into Israeli culture. Vaan and her sisters and parents mostly stay together as a family unit, and there are very few friendships portrayed between the family members and others, with the exception of Vaan’s interaction with an Arab girl at school. Vaan faces discrimination almost to the point of persecution from her classmates, who marginalize her for looking different and not being Jewish. Growing up in Israel and speaking Hebrew, it is difficult for Vaan to understand the reasons behind her exclusion, other than that she doesn’t look like everyone else. When the father of the family decides to return to Vietnam to attempt to regain the family lands lost during the war, Vaan decides to accompany him, resolving bitterly that she is done with Israel, and is ready to be among her own people, where she doesn’t stand out, but can build herself a new life. However, she experiences difficulty in fitting in with the Vietnamese culture because she doesn’t speak Vietnamese fluently. The Vietnamese people even have a special term for her as a Vietnamese person who is trying to be part of Vietnamese culture after having formed an identity elsewhere. This conflicted identity causing Vaan to be unable to feel truly at home in either Israel or Vietnam dominates who she is as a person, and highlights the exclusive tendency of different cultures, from an Israeli culture hesitant to except her because of her background, to a Vietnamese culture that will not except her because she is no longer a ‘true’ Vietnamese. Languages play an immensely important role in this identity; if Vaan had been able to speak Vietnamese fluently, becoming part of the culture would have been far easier because the Vietnamese people would have far less reason to focus on the difference of her upbringing. On the other hand, Vaan was compelled to learn Hebrew if she was to participate in school and be a part of the community in Israel, but just knowing the language was not enough to gain acceptance into Israeli culture.

Coming from Israel’s identity as a nation of immigrants, traditional and modern dance in Israel has been influenced by different ethnic groups throughout Israel’s existence. In Biblical times, such as the time of King David, dancing is referred to repeatedly. As a result, the use of dancing to express emotion became an essential part of Judaic and, therefore, Israeli culture. For example, when European immigrant Jews exchanged their urban lives for more rural, farming lifestyles in Palestine in the 1920’s, dancers were barefoot and wore lose, flowing clothing, and there were many leaping and running movements in the dances. Thus, the dances reflected the joy of returning to the land.

One song and dance that illustrates well the use of dance in the expression of feeling is Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, or Jerusalem of Gold. Performed at the Israeli Music Festival on May 15, 1967, just before the Six Day War, the first three stanzas express the beauty of Israel. After the war the stanza with the words “We have returned to the cisterns/to the market and the market place/A ram’s horn calls out on the Temple Mount/in the Old City”, reflective of the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem. There is a beautiful dance that accompanies the song, which can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyoLaN5ACms

Also, a transliteration and translation of the song can be viewed here:

http://hebrewsongs.com/?song=yerushalayimshelzahav

Additional sources:

http://judaism.about.com/library/1_culture/bl_dance.htm

Earlier in the semester I attended a Havdalah service with Hillel of Richmond. Havdalah is the traditional ceremony marking the end of Shabbat, and takes place on Saturday evening after sundown. The entire ceremony is of course conducted in Hebrew, and it was really enjoyable to listen as they progressed through the ceremony with a series of recitations and songs.

The word “Havdalah” means separation, and in the same way the candles of Friday night welcome Shabbat, the candle of Havdalah shows the separation of Shabbat from the rest of the week. At one point in the ceremony, everyone holds their cupped hands to the light from the candle so that a shadow is cast on their hands, symbolizing this separation. The blessing that accompanies this part reads “Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who distinguishes between sacred and ordinary, between light and darkness, between the seventh day and the sixth days of creation. Blessed are you, Adonai, Who distinguishes between sacred and ordinary.” After reflecting on this, it occurs to me that the fact that these American, Jewish, college students gathering on a Saturday night to recite blessings and prayers in a language very few, if any, of them understand outside of taking part in religious services, is in itself an example of separation. The Hebrew language helps set them apart from others, and provides a meaning to the ceremony that would be lost if it were to be performed in English.

Looking back over my learning journals, it is interesting for me to observe how my ideas about self-directed language learning have progressed. In one of my journal entries, I talk about how I saw the most progress in my ability to speak Spanish when I was immersed in the culture. While this is true, I used it to justify my decision to direct my study towards more broad, extensive listening tasks while avoiding the task of working through a grammar textbook. I know now that without at least a basic grammar base the benefits received from extensive listening are minimal. Truly effective language learning must have a good balance of listening, speaking, and grammar study if the learner is to progress with any kind of speed.

I liked the self-directed learning structure because it allowed me to approach the study of the language from the areas of my learning strengths. The evaluations we took at the beginning of the semester confirmed my previous knowledge that I was a solitary learner who learns best from the written word. Also from these evaluations, I saw that my weakness was Aural learning, and I was able to work on improving this area with listening to Hebrew clips online and watching Israeli TV and film. In short, I have learned that teaching yourself a language is a balance of using different types of mediums for study.

Also, an area I had not put much thought into before this course is that of understanding how a language is used by a culture, such as which conversational topics are culturally acceptable, and how cultures can range from those who are very explicit in expressing themselves to those who leave much unsaid. Thus, to truly be able to communicate in a culture and participate in conversation smoothly, one must understand the way the culture uses their language. Short of actually going to the country where the language is spoken, I feel like one of the best ways of learning these types of cultural patterns is by watching television from that culture. Between interviews, news reports, and drama there are many examples of cultural interaction that can be studied and understood by watching TV.

In summary, I feel the skills I have learned regarding how to teach myself a language will be useful in the future as I continue to study languages. As an example of how I will be and have been able to apply these skills to life, I recently had a conversation with my suitemate, who was born in the U.S. to Filipino parents. She explained how her parents raised her only speaking English so that she would have no difficulty assimilating to American culture, but as a consequence she can only understand the Tagalog language but not speak it. A few days later after doing a little research in the same way I had been doing for Hebrew, I was able to say a few phases to her in Tagalog. Her face instantly lit up, and it was rewarding to me to see how meaningful it was for her to hear me speak her language. I know the skills I have learned through my journey of self-directed language learning will continue to be applicable to many kinds of situations throughout my language learning career.

As I am still in the early stages of learning the alphabet and basic vocabulary, I have yet to encounter any serious roadblocks in my language learning. For learning the alphabet and vowel markings, the most useful resource I have found is actually a site for teaching Hebrew to children, www.akhlah.com. It has coloring pages and practice sheets for the letters of the alphabet, as well as coloring sheets for learning seasons, months, colors, etc.

For basic phrases, I have found Byki to be very helpful, especially in the area of learning how to pronounce words. Simply looking up phrases and memorizing them usually isn’t productive unless I can hear the phrase pronounced by a Hebrew speaker. Eventually I hope hearing the word will no longer be necessary for me produce accurate pronunciation, but as of now when I have yet to associate what sounds letters or groups of letters make it is essential to hear the words spoken.

Usually flashcards are the best way for me to assess my progress; I will keep going through a set until I make no more mistakes, often writing out the answer instead of just saying it in order to practice
spelling and the ability to recognize the words. This of course is the concept of Byki, which uses constant repetition with a type of flashcard system. However, Byki has its limits, and eventually will no longer be useful as my vocabulary expands past what it offers.

Looking ahead, I am intimidated by the idea of learning grammar. I have two basic options, 1) finding a good textbook or system of learning that presents Hebrew grammar step by step, or 2) listening to native speakers through podcasts, Israeli TV, etc., and trusting that an understanding of grammar will come as a result of becoming familiar with speaking patterns. At this point, the second method sounds more appealing. In my experience with learning Spanish, I have found that when I have studied grammar from a textbook it doesn’t become natural, and I often forget the rules rather quickly, especially when I do not practice them. However, when I traveled to Spain I found myself becoming more and more comfortable with speaking Spanish not because I knew all the grammar rules but because I had heard the way sentences and phrases worked in context. Learning grammar through listening and interacting with the language seems to be a much more natural way of learning than from a grammar textbook.

While reading from “How Language Works” and the article “What is Learner Autonomy and How Can it be Fostered?” I was surprised and a little intimidated by learning how much thought and effort goes into becoming an autonomous language learner. The learner must be highly motivated to take the initiative to move forward in the language and continually evaluate his or her progress. HLW analyzes how words, or lexemes, possess meaning, and the article states that “the autonomous learner is a self-activated maker of meaning” (Thanasoulas 2). In short, the autonomous learner is finding his own way of understanding the meaning of words, from the context of his life and previous language learning experiences. This is a great undertaking, but also a very freeing one. The learner is able to direct his language study in the ways best suited to who he is and how he learns, but he is also responsible for evaluating himself, and learning to understand when he is going wrong in his study and how he can improve.

One of the most intimidating parts of self-directed language learning for me is knowing where to start. HLW covers the idea of “selective focusing”, in areas such as vocabulary, grammar, or phonology, “selective focusing of this kind . . . is an essential part of the business of discovering how language works, and is also a helpful way of simplifying the task of description” (HLW 181). Having categories in which different parts of language are separated helps one navigate the sea of options, providing direction and order. Although the language learner is still responsible for choosing where to begin and where to focus, having ideas of how language can be divided is very helpful.

One characteristic of autonomous learners mentioned by the article is that they are “willing to take risks, i.e.,
to communicate in the target language at all costs.” (Thanasoulas 2). This is one area I know I need practice in, because for one reason or another I struggle with confidence in expressing myself in a foreign language, especially orally. Learning to take risks, and not being afraid of failure, is an essential part of being an autonomous language learner.

After traveling to Mexico when I was fourteen, I began to realize the value of being multilingual, and I have become increasingly interested in learning languages after subsequent trips to Brazil, Spain, and France. I was homeschooled, so I did not take languages in a classroom during high school. I instead used the Rosetta Stone program for learning Spanish; I felt it was a natural way to learn a language but did not give me a strong basis for conversation. It did, however, help in some areas, such as verb tenses, once I got to Spanish at the college level.

The results of my Learning Styles Inventory were not surprising to me. The area I scored the highest in was Solitary, with 17, and the lowest was Aural, with 5. Undoubtedly because of my experiences as a homeschooled student, I have always learned best when I am working by myself. Since I began attending college I have had to work to develop my ability to learn from classroom lectures. Especially with my Spanish classes, I have found it difficult to remember material unless I see it in writing. Learning straight from a textbook continues to be my most productive way of mastering material. My Multiple Intelligence Inventory confirmed this; my two highest scores were 35 in Intrapersonal, meaning I learn best by working alone and with self-paced instruction, and 34 in Linguistic, meaning I learn best by saying, hearing, and seeing words. For these reasons, I am hopeful the SDLAP will work well for me. However, the downside to being a Solitary learner is that I struggle with being confident in expressing myself orally. I am hoping practice with my language learning partner will be helpful in overcoming my weakness in this area. Overall, I hope that SDLAP will be a good way of using my strengths to learn a language while taking the opportunity to improve in areas in which I am not as comfortable.