For the source text click/tap here: Ketubot 8
To download, click/tap here: PDF
Our daf discusses the seven blessings that are made at a Jewish wedding, and also recited afterwards. For the entire week after the wedding, celebratory meals in honor of the bride and the groom are accompanied by sheva berakhot – a series of seven unique blessings that are added to birkat ha-mazon, the grace after meals.
These blessings include statements that welcome the wedding guests, recall the creation of Adam and Chava, mention the consolation of Jerusalem (based on the passage in Tehillim 137:6), and finally wish the new couple well at their wedding and their future endeavors.
We explore the custom surrounding these special blessings including the notion of “peace” (as noted in the the last of the berachot) in the Bible as well as a review of Agnon’s novel the Bridal Canopy.