Rings at Jewish Weddings

In a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, wedding rings play a central role as in the traditional weddings of many other countries. Jewish law stipulates that a mere oral declaration of commitment, however solemn, is not enough for a man and woman to be considered married. To reinforce the Jewish law, the giving of a wedding ring, is considered an outward symbol of the sanctity of marriage.

The ring must be made of solid metal, mostly in gold, with no holes or porosity destroying the circle. The continuity of the rings represents the hope for an undying love and everlasting togetherness.

The ring must be bought and gifted by the bridegroom's family to the bride at the time of the Jewish wedding ceremony. The ring is used as an item of value given to the bride in order to complete the marriage contract. While only one Jewish wedding ring is required by Jewish law to be given by the groom to the bride, many Jewish couples today exchange rings. There are certain sections of orthodox Rabbis who disapprove of a double ring ceremony. It is their contention that it invalidates the idea of the groom acquiring the bride if the bride were also to give a ring back to him.

Jewish wedding rings are generally made of solid gold bands, although mbellishment of these bands with Hebrew letters is becoming commonplace. Many rings are today fully customized with unique Hebrew phrases, or the couple's names either inscribed or raised inside the band. Orthodox weddings require the ring to be solid all the way round into a full circle. It is not necessary to be solid gold and can be of any other metal. Jewish Wedding Rings are made also in silver by some follow the kabbalah trend that requires a silver wedding ring to be used in wedding ceremonies.

During the Jewish wedding, the groom initially places the ring on the bride's right index finger. Afterwords, most women move it to the customary ring finger of the left hand. This time-honored tradition goes back to the time of the Talmud when controversy raged about which finger is closer or more direct to the heart! Christianity claimed it to be the ring finger while Judaism believed it to be the index finger. Today many scholars opine that fidelity, which is what the ring symbolizes, has less to do with the heart than a strong conscience and sense of integrity - and hence any finger should be good enough.

In most traditional Jewish wedding ceremonies, the bride receives the ring from the groom but does not present a ring to her groom in return. This is because of the ancient Jewish belief it is the man who openly declares his responsibility by offering the ring. However, today most brides give a ring to the groom and most grooms are also willing to wear a ring. The bride also places the ring on the groom's index finger during the wedding ceremonies and afterwords the groom shifts the ring to the ring finger.

During Jewish wedding ceremonies, the bridegroom will repeat a Hebrew vow after the Rabbi, while gifting the ring to his bride. The bridegroom would declare, "Behold, thou art consecrated to me with this ring, according to the law of Moses and Israel."