Occasion
In the seventh century, it was traditional for the blessings to be said at the groom's house, and at the house where the bride had spent the night previous to the marriage; this is still the tradition among Jews in some parts of Asia, but in most regions the wedding blessings are now recited towards the end of the formal marriage ceremony, under the Chuppah.
These blessing are also recited as part of the week-long festivities celebrating the wedding; in most communities these festive meals occur during the week after the wedding, but among the Mountain Jews they occur during the week before it. Under the chuppah the blessing over wine comes first; at the meal table it comes last, after the Grace After Meals. If both the bride and the groom were previously married the post wedding celebrations are limited to three days, not seven. In such a case, the blessings are recited only after the very first festive meal, which should take place right after the wedding.
In Orthodox Judaism, the first six of the blessings are said only if a religiously valid quorum is present. On weekdays their recitation also requires the presence of at least one person who was not present for any previous Sheva Brachot of the couple. On Shabbat there is no need for a new guest, since the Shabbat itself is considered a new guest. New guests are referred to as new faces (Hebrew: Panim Chodoshos).
Read more about this topic: Sheva Brachot
Famous quotes containing the word occasion:
“All questions rely on the present for their solution. Time measures nothing but itself. The word that is written may be postponed, but not that on the lip. If this is what the occasion says, let the occasion say it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I feel sure that he never had an impure fancy in his mind, or a faulty wish in his heart. His tenderness has surpassed the tenderness of woman; and yet when an occasion came for showing it, had all the spirit of a hero.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“Still we live meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like pygmies we fight with cranes; it is error upon error, and clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness. Our life is frittered away by detail.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)