Page:Once a Week Volume 7.djvu/200

192 blessing, and then gives the glass of wine to the bridegroom, who tastes it and passes it to the bride, who does likewise. The bridegroom then takes the ring from his pocket and places it on the finger of the bride, saying after the Rabbi (in Hebrew) as he does so: “Behold! thou art betrothed unto me with this ring, according to the rites of Moses and Israel.” The Rabbi then reads the marriage contract, which is written in Chaldee, and is not understood by the parties concerned, who therefore take it on trust: after this the Chazan takes a glass of wine and pronounces a form of words longer but similar to that pronounced by the Rabbi, the wine is given to the bridegroom and bride, and an empty glass having been placed at the feet of the former, he stamps upon it and breaks it, whereupon all present wish him mazal tov (good speed), and the ceremony is at an end.

If the newly married Jew has a proper sense of his religious duties, one of his first proceedings, on taking possession of his domicile, is to prepare a mezuzah. Most Gentiles who pass through the streets in the neighbourhood of Houndsditch will probably have remarked here and there a tin tube nailed in a slanting position on the door-post, which they probably presumed to be a trade emblem. This tube contains a strip of parchment, on one side of which is inscribed שדל, one of the names applied to the Supreme Being, and on the other from the 4th to the 9th verses of the vi. chapter of Deuteronomy, and from the 13th to the 21st verses of the xi. chapter of the same book. A similar tube is fastened to the jambs of the other doors in the house; and the Jew who is a strict observer of the old customs of his forefathers never leaves his house for the first time, daily, without touching the mezuzah with his lips, or bending his head to it as he passes from room to room.

The Jew being now provided with a wife, the next thing to be done is to describe the manner in which he may dispose of her in the event of her failing to afford him that happiness which he anticipated. To accomplish this object it is generally supposed the aid of Sir Cresswell Cresswell is not needed. The husband cannot now write a “bill of divorce” and send her away; but on assigning reasons for desiring a divorce, which are deemed of sufficient gravity, this ceremony is performed for him by the Bethdin, or ecclesiastical authorities. The bill of divorce is written in Hebrew, and is copied from a form, and its possession by the wife makes her free to marry again with whom she pleases, unless the divorce is brought about through her having been guilty of a breach of the Seventh Commandment, in which case she is not allowed to benefit by her own wrong, or, in other words, she may not marry the associate of her guilt.

In certain countries a divorce is sometimes given conditionally, that is, supposing a husband is about to start for a place from which there is a strong probability he may not return, he may give his wife a bill of divorce, stating that if at the end of three years he shall not return to her or