General Information about Item:

• Customary Lore, wedding folklore
• Language: Hebrew, English
• Region of Origin: 20th c. Europe
• Informant: Brian Flansburg
• Date Collected: 5-21-2019

Informant Data:

• Brian Flansburg is a 52 year old man living in Safety Harbor, Florida. He grew up in a non-practicing Protestant household and married the daughter of a rabbi after college. Before marrying her, he had to covert to Judaism. He studied engineering at the University of Central Florida and has two children.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context:  There are many interpretations of the breaking of the glass, and many show qualities relating to concept of homeopathic magic. For the historic and cultural significance of this act to be understood, one should know of the destruction of the Holy Temple and the fall of Jerusalem around 2000 years ago. This practice is used as a reminder of that event. Moreover the superstition that loud noises frighten and appease evil spirits that are attracted to beautiful and fortunate people is important in the context of this folklore.
• Social Context: I collected this folklore by asking Brian about a piece of wedding folklore from his wedding to his wife, Jenn. He described the ceremonies at length and in great detail, as he obtained this folklore from a religious community, even thought the custom itself does not have a strictly religious interpretation. Jenn’s father, a rabbi, told him that the practice of the Jewish groom breaking glass wrapped in a cloth or foil is symbolic of the fragility of human relationships. It is a symbolic act that marriage is a fragile thing, and once broken is hard or impossible to put back together.

Item (Direct Quote):

• “After a Jewish groom (החתן or “chatan”) or  gives the bride (  כלה or “kala“) the ring at the end of the ceremony, traditionally chatan breaks a glass wine goblet (or light bulb originating from the Holocaust when Jews did not have access to goblets) wrapped in a towel or velvet pouch, crushing it with his right foot, and the guests shout congratulations ( מזל טוב‎ or “mazel tov!”) on the union.  The sound of the breaking glass is the last part of the wedding.  It sharply ends the formality and reverence of the ceremony under the canopy (חופה  or chuppah”), and transitions to the lively celebration.  ( שמחה or “Simcha” ). The broken glass is also a reminder for the couple to rebuild the destroyed Temple in their own lives by building their own Jewish home and to foster their spiritual life. A wedding union is a healing, sometimes considered a reunion, mending a broken relationship between Jews and G_d when the last Temple was destroyed.”

Collector’s Name: Molly Carpenter

Tags/Keywords:

• Wedding Folklore
• Jewish Lore
• Rites of Transition
• Homeopathic Magic