Black wedding

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Black wedding (Yiddish: shvartse khasene), or plague wedding (Yiddish: mageyfe khasene) is a wedding performed in time of crisis, for example, during epidemics. In the wedding, the bride and the groom, who have never met before,[citation needed] were wed in an effort to ward-off diseases.

Overview[]

The community who wants to perform this wedding selects the bride and groom. The two have never met before[failed verification] and are often orphans or homeless and thus would have no reasonable chance of getting married by themselves.[1]

The wedding takes place at a cemetery and is financed by the community and the community pledges to support the couple.[1] It is hoped that by performing this form of charity the souls of the deceased would reward their efforts and intercede to block the evil decree.[2]

History[]

There were records of black wedding being performed in Jewish communities around the world. There was one performed Mount of Olives in 1909.[3] Another was performed in 1918 in New York, during the Spanish flu.[4]

The black wedding was most recently performed in Bnei Brak in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Patowary, Kaushik. "Black Weddings: Marrying in The Time of Cholera". Amusing Planet. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  2. ^ Ben-David, Lenny. "Married at the First Sight — of a Plague". Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b Berkowitz, Adam Eliyahu (24 March 2020). "Orphan Couple Holds "Black Wedding" in Cemetery to Ward off Plagues". Israel 365 News. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  4. ^ Bell, Steve (13 June 2020). "When a Cemetery Wedding Was Used to End the Spanish Flu". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
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