Jewish Wedding (Munkacz Hasidic), New York, NY, 1987
Late in the evening, the women who remain are permitted in a ballroom, which until now has been reserved for men. Sitting on one side of the room opposite the men, they watch Frima dance first with her father, the Grand Rebbe, at the start of a "mitzvahtanz."
Katrina Thomas's notes: More than populate Israel, there are an estimated 5.7 million Jews in the U.S. In addition to two nationality backgrounds, Ashkenazi and Sephardic, they belong to four movements, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Hasidic. Jewish weddings today combine elements, dating back to biblical times when two separate rites were performed, perhaps months or years apart, known in Jewish law, as kiddushin and nissu'in. The first is betrothal, during which the ring is given, and the second, the actual marriage. Over a period of twenty-five years, I photographed a variety of weddings, some with hundreds of guests and some small, all of them essentially the same but different in regard to details. All couples are united under a chuppah, both rites performed at one time. In general, traditions are kept more reverently by Jews than are customs retained more casually by other religions and ethnic groups.
Thomas, Katrina (photographer)
1987
1 photograph : black-and-white
reformatted digital
North and Central America--United States--New York--New York
BMC-M59
Photographer's categories: Feast and reception , Farewell , Dancing , Father
BMC-M59_35-47