Huppah

The traditional Jewish marriage contract, signed during the wedding ceremony, defines marriage as the husband’s acquisition of his wife. Note how the woman’s face remains covered by her future husband’s prayer shawl. This prevents the viewer from seeing the face of the bride and gaining any insight into her experience of the ceremony. There is also a clear separation of men and women, with a male figure officiating at the marriage. Aspects of this depiction, such as the clothing worn by the attendees, reveal early signs of modernity’s influence on Jewish culture that would ultimately challenge gender norms and reshape the Jewish wedding in some streams of Jewish practice.