Today is:  
kasher,kosher,kashrut,kosher supervision,kosher directo


 



 

     
     

KOSHER BY DESIGN

Amazing New Kosher
Cookbook. BUY

 

 Home > Jewish Wedding Guide > Reform > Yichud

Search The Jewish Directory

Yichud: Bride and Groom Retreat for Alone Time
A Reform Perspective by Rivka C. Berman

Immediately after the ceremony and just before the wedding reception begins to swirl around the new couple, they share a few minutes alone – away from the bright lights and music. Yichud, literally meaning, becoming one.

An unrelated woman and man should not remain alone behind locked doors. After the ceremony, spending time alone, in a room of their own, signifies their new status as a married couple.

Yichud takes place when the couple, and only the couple, are alone in a room. Witnesses ascertain the room’s emptiness before the couple enters and then stand guard to ensure the couple’s privacy.

For couples who have fasted until the ceremony, Yichud is breaking of the fast time. Eastern European couples feasted on the easy-to-digest, nutritious, satisfying cure all: chicken soup. Its golden hue was said to portend a prosperous marriage. Honey and cheese or eggs and chicken are other customary yichud room treats.

New Traditions
Yichud occurs in the first moments of a new marriage. There is time to reflect upon the day and reconnect now that all the pre-wedding jitters and hassles are over.

Rabbi Debra Orenstein, editor of Lifecycles, created a new yichud ritual to encompass the two meanings of yichud: alone and togetherness. Strong marriages are built by couples who feel the closeness of one, but maintain their own distinct individuality.

In some communities the bride and groom fast until they reach the yichud room. Eating has long been a part of the yichud tradition. Couples who feed each other, as part of Rabbi Orenstein’s ceremony, symbolically begin the nurturing that last throughout the marriage. A reading built upon Hosea 2:21-22 sets the tone for each mouthful. “I will feed you forever… I will feed you with compassion. I will feed you with faithfulness.”

Before drinking, the couple recalls the passage in Song of Songs: “Many waters cannot quench love, and no flood can sweep it away” (8:7).

Just before the ritual ends with the Shehecheyanu blessing, the new husband reads about Isaac’s first encounter with Rebecca. “And Isaac took Rebecca and made her his wife. And he loved her and found comfort.” The new wife reads: “And Rebecca lifted her eyes and beheld Isaac and was jolted with the surprise of love. She said, ‘that is my husband.’” (Adapted from Genesis 24:64-65.)

The Shehecheyanu blessing punctuates happy events throughout a Jewish life and ends the yichud ceremony.

Baruch atah Adon-ai Eloheinu melech ha-olam sheheche-yanu v’keyi-manu v’heegee-anu la’zman hazeh.

We bless you God, our God, ruler of all worlds, who has let us live and sustained us and brought us to this day.

Generally, Yichud is not part of the Sephardic tradition.

 



 

READ MORE:
Dating Jewish
The Dowry (Nedunia)
Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make me a Match!
Forbidden Marriages
Engagement: Announcement and more
Marriage: A Jewish Perspective
Setting a Date for the Celebration of a Jewish Wedding
Double Wedding, Double the Fun?
Jewish Wedding A Second Time Around
Mikvah:The Ritual Bath
Aufruf – A Torah Honor for the Groom
Wedding Day Customs
The Ketubah: The Jewish Marriage Contract
The Reform Ketubah Text and Translation

Ketubah Designs and Designation
The Bedeking Ceremony: Veiling of the Bride
The Chuppah - the Wedding Canopy
Chuppah: Make Your Own Chuppah
The Processional and the Chuppah Ceremony
Jewish Wedding Ceremony Part I: The "Erusin" - the Engagement

Jewish Wedding Ceremony Part II: The Ring and Its Significance
Jewish Wedding Ceremony Part III: The Ketubah Reading
Jewish Wedding Ceremony Part IV: Nesuin, the Marriage Ceremony
Jewish Wedding Ceremony Part V: Breaking the Glass

Yichud: Bride and Groom Retreat from Crowd for Alone-Time
Jewish Wedding Reception Customs and Traditions

Shana Rishona: The First Year of Marriage
Practical Tips: List of things to bring to your wedding


  


Hebrew for Kids


ADVERTISE HERE
 · Wedding Gifts
  · Bar Mitzvah Gifts
  ·
Baby Gifts
  · Jewish Books at Great Prices
 

 


Mazor Guides: Wealth of Information and Resources
- Mazor Guide - The Ultimate Guide to Living Jewish -
- Guide to Jewish Holidays -
- Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah Guide -
- Guide to a Jewish Wedding -
- Guide to Jewish Celebrations -
- Guide to Kosher Living
- Infertility and Judaism: A Guide
- The Get (Gett) - the Jewish Divorce: A Guide
- Zei Gezunt: Jewish Perspective on Health -
- Jewish Genetic Diseases -
- Death and Mourning in Judaism

Copyright 1998-2024 MazorNet, Inc.

Other Mazornet, Inc. Websites
http://www.MazorGuide.com | http://www.MazorBooks.com