The biggest event of the Ultra orthodox world in 2013 was the wedding of the grandson of the leader of the Hasidic dynasty Belz Rebbe, 18-year-old Shalom Rokeach and 19-year-old bride Hannah Batya Penet in Jerusalem, Israel, as Daily Mail reported.
In the Ultra orthodox wedding Hasidic bride Hannah Batya Penet is seen wearing a traditional wedding dress with a heavy veil covering her face.
The bride was the center of the attention.
The intricate detail of Hannah Batya Penet’s lace and crystal encrusted veil, as well as small diamond earrings. Her head was fully covered with a full crown and tiara style diadem. In the Jewish wedding ceremony, bride and groom become King and Queen.
With a woman becoming Queen during her marriage to her husband King, wearing a hat or wig is like wearing a crown. In non Orthodox backgrounds, hair is often referred to as the Crown of Glory and so a wig is putting on the crown.
The bride wears a full crown covering symbolically shows she has a pure mind and maintains her focus directly to God. A pure mind in union with God to be an intercessor for prayer and divine service is necessary. Hannah Batya Penet’s husband being the eldest grandson would be promised to God from birth and so this union is one of divine service for a greater community of people.
The heavy lace veil allows the bride to avoid the gaze of guests while under the wedding canopy and where she was in front of all the men. Hasidic Jews believe it is important to protect the bride’s modesty.
The veil also recalls the Matriarch Leah, whose face was covered so heavily that Jacob did not know she was not Rachel at the wedding ceremony. The bride only has to wear the veil during the ceremony.
One lady wrote a comment to clarify the process. “The bride was only veiled during the ceremonies where she was in front of all the men. During the meal and dancing when she sat with the women, she was NOT VEILED. During her private time with her groom, she wasn’t veiled either. It was only during the ceremonies where she is among the men.”
The custom of covering the bride’s face with a veil originated with our Matriarch Rebecca, who covered her face with a handkerchief when meeting her groom, Isaac.
According to the Kabbalistic meaning, the veil emphasizes that the groom is not solely interested in the bride’s external beauty, which fades with time; but rather in her inner beauty which she will never lose.
When the groom veils his bride, he is saying: “I will love, cherish and respect not only the <<you>> which is revealed to me, but also those elements of your personality that are hidden from me. As I am bonding with you in marriage, I am committed to creating a space within me for the totality of your being – for all of you, all of the time.”
The veiling also symbolizes the bride’s commitment from this moment on to reserve her beauty for her husband’s eyes.
