Marriage

Set up a mock chuppah; show a ketubah; explain breaking the glass.

Children wonder and discover; you facilitate more than you lecture.

• What are the parts of a Jewish wedding?
• What’s special about a Jewish wedding?
• What Jewish values appear in a wedding?

A Jewish wedding includes a chuppah (canopy), ketubah (marriage contract), sheva brachot (seven blessings), and breaking a glass — joyful traditions adaptable to each couple.

• Chuppah — wedding canopy
• Ketubah — marriage contract
• Simcha — joy

“Why break a glass?”

Several meanings — remembering sorrow even in joy, and that love is precious and fragile.

• Children understand Jewish weddings have many adaptable traditions.
• Children engage with sheva brachot, ketubah, and chuppah, and the value of simcha.

Affirm all loving marriages, including LGBTQ+ and interfaith couples; emphasize traditions adapt to each couple.

Folktale. Matches Made in Heaven (Talmudic / folklore) — the surprising, hidden work of pairing two people.

Changemaker. Edith Windsor — was taxed hundreds of thousands of dollars when her wife died because the government would not call them married, and took it all the way to the Supreme Court, and won.

What makes a marriage holy? (Traditions vary — and adapt.)

“We explored Jewish weddings. Try at home: share a wedding tradition from your family.”