Malida/Wedding Ceremony of the Bene Israel

For a while yesterday morning, it was touch and go as to whether we'd be able to re-enact a Bene Israel Wedding ceremony, including the Malida ritual. Thank goodness, Nathan checked the weather reports and all seemed to indicate that by the time we'd be going through our re-enactment, the skies would clear and the drizzle we'd experienced all morning would stop. I put my faith in the Doppler readings and was rewarded!
Not only was the sun shining brightly by the time we began the ceremony - the grass and ground were dry enough to sit on!

Immediately following our t'fila service in the Sanctuary (during which time Jacob and Isaac my TA's worked hard to prepare the Malida dishes, pour the grape juice and set out the props), the Edot students and those parents who joined us to observe the ceremony followed me back down to Room 201. There, I handed out the scripts so the students could review the roles to which they'd been assigned.

I wish my students could have enough time to rehearse the re-enactments we conduct in Edot class. Alas, 15 minutes was all the time they had to look over their scripts and ask questions. I'm so impressed with how seriously they take their roles and do their very best to get into character.

While the students reviewed the scripts, several parents, Kimberly my co-teacher, and Katie our special needs teacher helped students find and put on their costumes in Room 202.

Once the costuming process was completed, we had the Groom's wedding party line up behind Kimberly and the Bride's party line up behind me, then each group began two separate processions, which symbolically re-enacted the processions of the two wedding parties in India - one leading from the Bride's home to the synagogue; the second leading from the Groom's home to the synagogue. 

The Bridal party climbed the steep stairs across from the Temple House Building up to the lawn outside the Sanctuary. There, the Bride's mother (Jenna) threw gold coins in front of her daughter, and  and wished her prosperity in her new life. (We couldn't locate the bag of "gold" coins so Jenna symbolically threw out the coins! Of course, we found the coins soon after the end of the re-enactment!)

Meanwhile, the Groom's party led by Kimberly had climbed the stairs across from the Talmud Torah Building. Once the Bride's mother wished her daughter prosperity, two friends of the Bride (Abi and Jessie) and two friends of the Groom (Sammy and Andrew) began beating a slow rhythm on the drums they carried, and the procession continued along the cement pathway in front of the Sanctuary. Notice the children sitting on the yellow and white chairs - these are 7 Elders. As the Groom passed by each, he "kissed" the Elder's knee by putting his hand on the knee then putting his hand to his mouth as a sign of respect. There were also 7 Elders sitting on the Bride's end of the procession, and the Bride also "kissed" each Elder's knee as she passed them by.

Once the two wedding parties met, each began to march on the lawn, going down the middle, then each mirroring the other as they marched in two different directions along the edge of the lawn, following the beat of the drums. You can see the parent observers in the upper right corner of the photo.

Finally, the wedding parties met near two chairs representing the "thrones" for the Bride (Lillian) and Groom (Stephen). Each faced in the opposite direction from the other to symbolize the separate lives they had led to that point. The fathers of the Bride and Groom (Aaron and Zack) addressed each, echoing God's blessing to Abraham to make of his seed a great nation and to protect the Nation of Israel.

At this point, before the Bride and Groom can be wed, the Malida Ceremony takes place, venerating the Prophet Elijah whom the Bene Israel believe rescued their ancestors from a shipwreck off the Kerala Coast of southwest India. I conducted a very abbreviated Malida ceremony as follows:

We completed the ceremony by reciting the blessings over the fruit of the trees and over the rice, as well as over the wine (juice), then ate and drank.

The Malida dish is composed of the "Poha Porridge" (see my previous post) surrounded by pieces of apple, pear, orange, dates and bananas. These foods symbolize the sacrifices conducted in the ancient Temple by the Kohanim - the priests.

Now we continued the wedding ceremony.

Servant 3 (a/k/a Isaac, my TA) held up the Torah Scroll in front of the Bride. It was scrolled open to the 10 commandments.

The Bride covered her eyes with her left hand as she touched and kissed the Torah Scroll with her right hand 7 times. Everyone at the wedding then wished her a long life, with sons and daughters who would engage in works of the Law.

Servant 3 then gave gold necklaces to one of the Bride's friends, and gold bracelets to the second friend, who then put the jewelry on the Bride .

Servant 1 (a/k/a Kimberly) then covered the Bride's head with a white veil.

Now it was time for the Groom to be honored. Servant 3 gave one of the Groom's friends a garland of flowers and a gold crown...

...which he then put on the Groom.

Everyone at the wedding then recited a line from the Book of Esther describing how Mordechai was honored by King Ahashverosh by being dressed in royal apparel of blue and white and with a great crown of gold.

The Groom's second friend then gave the Groom a silver kiddush cup filled with wine (grape juice) to hold in his right hand, and a silver ring to hold in his left.  The Groom blessed and sipped the wine/juice, then gave the cup to Servant 3. He then placed the silver ring on the Bride's right index finger, declaring that she is now betrothed and sanctified to him.

Servant 3 then held up the marriage contract - the ketubah - in front of the Groom, at which point the Groom took an oath to provide his Bride with support, clothing and happiness. The Groom and his two friends - the "witnesses" - then signed the ketubah, which was handed to Servant 1 who rolled it up and tied it with a "gold" string.

The Groom then handed the signed ketubah to the Bride.

The Bride's friend removed the white veil from the Bride's head, as everyone at the wedding declared her beauty - "Oh beautiful as the Moon!" - and her virtues - "A woman of valor, for her price is far above rubies." (from the Book of Proverbs)

The Groom and his two friends then faced the Bride and her friends, clapped loudly 7 times, and, with the friends beating a slow rhythm on their drums, walked backward toward the cement path (symbolically leaving the synagogue). The Bride and her friends then followed, her friends also beating the same rhythm on their drums. Everyone else in the wedding followed them, and another procession began, similar to the one which started the re-enactment. The wedding parties are symbolically now heading from the synagogue to the home where the Bride and Groom will spend their lives.

"Reaching their home," there are two thrones waiting for them, this time facing in the same direction since their lives will now follow the same path. The mothers of the Bride and Groom (Jenna and Kyra) greeted them, asking God to make the Bride like Rachel and Leah who built the House of Israel, and to give the Groom a life where Priests and Levites will bless and serve him and kings will rejoice at his table.

This is where the ceremony ended and, with the ceremony, our unit of study about the Jews of India. A very big thanks goes to Servant 2 (a/k/a Jacob, my T.A.) for taking the wonderful photos and video during the ceremony, as well as helping our other two servants to serve the food and drink and then clean up during and after the ceremony. 

 

We now look forward to traveling through time and space this coming week, when we begin a new unit of study about the Jews of Morocco, our final Edot unit of study for this year. Stay tuned!