Glass Breaking Tradition

Do it together!

That's a really nice idea to have you both do it!

I wonder if maybe you guys can get a larger napkin and maybe put two glasses in it.... maybe that wouldn't work to well, but I think you both doing it would be a really nice gesture.

FH isnt Jewish either but he will be stepping on it at our wedding as well because he knows it would make me happy.

This guide suggests breaking it jointly: http://www.tabletmag.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Wolpert_Ceremony.pdf

Together. totally! or are there any ceremony traditions that your groom can do? be nice to fuse the two cultures together.

Together! Just don't step on each other! Whoops!

The breaking of the glass commemorates the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Since the temple was seen as a place where Heaven met earth, the wrecking of the temple symbolized the loss of the open relationship between God and the world. A Jewish marriage calls to mind a similar story: before a couple was born, they were one, single soul. When it came time to enter the world, God shattered that single soul into two parts. The two half-souls were then born with a mission to reunite with each other in the world. However, though you spent part of your life severed from the other half of your soul, it gave you time to develop as an individual, to mature and grow. Your soul was split only to reunite with its other half on a deeper level.

Since this part of a Jewish wedding ceremony involves such a beautiful story of reunion and literal soul-seeking, I think it would be so beautiful and fitting for you both to break one glass together.

Together. I think it is becoming more common for multi-sex(?) couples to do this way, too, so you should both get to have the fun

Madeline, I am Jewish and have heard several reasons behind the glass-breaking. I have never heard about the split souls reuniting, but that is beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

I agree with the others - I think both of you should break the glass together! Maybe you could buy a large glass or a vase so you don't step on each other's feet? Haha

One tradition associated with the broken glass is that it represents a remembrance of sorrow in the world, even on the most joyous occasion.

It's a Jewish tradition to incorporate current world events in such traditions. A good example is talking about people who are enslaved in the world today during Passover seders.

A number of gay wedding sites suggest that one of the sorrows in the world today is inequality for gays, including 36 states without marriage equality. (I'd add the many places in the world where one takes one's life in one's hands by being out, such as Russia or Uganda.) I found several sites that offer text to read about healing that which is as broken as the glass, including marriage inequality and homophobia, before breaking the glass.

I think it's really up to you! If your fiance isn't comfortable breaking the glass, he doesn't have to, but if he wants to, he should do it too.

I'm Jewish and my fiance is (formerly) Catholic, and we're having a mostly non-religious ceremony, but we're doing a few Jewish traditions, including the glass. He's excited to break it, and I'm still deciding if I want to do it as well (I'm a woman, but we're feminists and don't like gendered traditions very much).

We'd probably do two different glasses just to avoid stomping on each other's feet.

Also, I have lost count of the number of Jewish people I know who are atheists, myself included ...