INTERESTING CEREMONY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19523, 24 June 1933, Page 10

INTERESTING CEREMONY

WEDDINGS IN CZECHO-SLOVAKIA In Czecho-Slovakia the actual ceremony takes place under the traditional canopy, after which the young people are escorted to their room, where they partake of the so-called “golden soup”, which is the first food they taste that day. Husband and wife each sip a few spoonfuls from the same plate, Then begins the wedding banquet under the supervision of the bride’s mother, who, if wealthy, may be magnificently robed in silk and wear a headdress of precious lace. There were 20,000 guests marshalled by 300 policemen at the marriage of Frime Chaje Rifke Spira, daughter of a famous rabbi, and Joshua Baruch Rabinoviteh, son of a Ukrainian rabbi. There was great consternation on the day of the great event, for the bridegroom was an hour late. On his arrival he explained that he had been detained at the Ukraine frontier by Custom formalities.

There were 20 tables for 1000 guests each. Dinner ended at midnight, when the “bridal dance” began. This dance is performed according to the ancient Jewish custom in a rather curious manner. The bride dances a few steps with each male guest, the bride holding one end of a coloured handkerchief, and the man holding the other end. Frime Chaje Rifke danced with 1000 different men at the reception.

The function was typical of the country in the case of well-to-do families.