Brides

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As a youth espouses a maiden,
Your sons shall espouse you;
And as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
So will your God rejoice over you.

Oshaya continued: There is a parable that illustrates this, involving a bride who is in her father’s home and has not yet been seen by her bridegroom. As long as her eyes are beautiful, her body need not be examined, as certainly she is beautiful. However, if her eyes are bleary [terutot], her entire body requires examination. So too, if the leaders of the generation are flawed, it is a sign that the entire generation is unworthy. By means of this parable, Oshaya was hinting that rain was withheld from the entire nation due to the evil committed by the…

I greatly rejoice in GOD,
My whole being exults in my God—
Who has clothed me with garments of triumph,
Wrapped me in a robe of victory,
Like a bridegroom adorned with a turban,
Like a bride bedecked with her finery.

“How fair is your loving, my sister, my bride; how much better is your loving than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than all spices” (Song of Songs 4:10).
“How fair is your loving, my sister, my bride” – Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Ḥelbo said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: In ten places Israel is called bride; six here and four in the prophets. Six here: “With me from Lebanon, my bride” (Song of Songs 4:8), “you have charmed me, my sister, my bride” (Song of Songs 4:9), “how fair is your loving, my sister, my bride” (Song of Songs 4:10)…

Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:10:1

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). What is “with all your heart, with all your soul” – with each and every soul that He created for you. Rabbi Meir said: For each and every breath that a person takes, he is obligated to laud his Creator. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Let everyone who breathes praise the Lord” (Psalms 150:6). Rabbi Simon said: The soul is called the following five names: Ruaḥ, nefesh, neshama, ḥaya, yeḥida…

Devarim Rabbah 2:37

... And the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said, "Any bride whose eyes are beautiful does not require examination of her whole body." But this is something that the senses contradict; as how many ugly women are there in the world who have beautiful eyes? And there is another difficulty: Why did the Sages, may their memory be blessed, see fit to give advice to ascertain this external beauty - is it not that 'charm is false and beauty is vanity?' Rather it is certain that they gave advice to ascertain her deeds…

Kli Yakar on Genesis 24:14:2

With regard to the mitzva of bringing joy to the bride and groom, the Gemara relates: The Sages said about Rabbi Yehuda bar Elai that he would take a myrtle branch and dance before the bride, and say: A fair and attractive bride. Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak would base his dance on three myrtle branches that he would juggle. Rabbi Zeira said: The old man is humiliating us, as through his conduct he is demeaning the Torah and the Torah scholars. It is further related: When Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak died…

Ketubot 17a:5-11

There was another story of Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Elai, who was sitting and teaching his students, and a bride passed by and he said: What is this? And they said to him: A bride is passing. He said to them: My children, stand and attend to the bride, for thus we find that the Holy Blessed One attended to a bride (as it says [Genesis 2:22], “The Eternal God built the rib”). If God attended to a bride – then I, all the more so! And where do we find that the Holy Blessed One attended to a bride? As it says…

Avot DeRabbi Natan 4:3

Incidental to Rav Yehuda’s earlier statement, which organized several cases into a single category, the Gemara cites similar statements of his. Rav Yehuda said: Three require protection from harm: A sick person, a bridegroom, and a bride. It was taught in a baraita: A sick person, a woman in childbirth, a bridegroom, and a bride require protection from harm. And some say: Even a mourner. And some say: Even Torah scholars at night. Those whose thoughts are focused elsewhere or are in a weakened physical state require protection.

Berakhot 54b:21

Furthermore, it is obvious that if one must choose between Torah study and tending to a corpse with no one to bury it [met mitzva], the task of burying the met mitzva takes precedence. This is derived from that which is taught in a baraita: One cancels his Torah study to bring out a corpse for burial, and to join a wedding procession and bring in the bride. Similarly, if one must choose between the Temple service and tending to a met mitzva…

Gather the people,
Bid the congregation purify themselves.
Bring together the old,
Gather the babes
And the sucklings at the breast;
Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber,
The bride from her canopied couch.

It is forbidden to wash on Yom Kippur, whether using hot or cold water. One may not wash one's entire body [at one time], nor any individual limb. It is even forbidden to immerse one's small finger in water.
A king and a bride may wash their faces: a bride so that she will not appear unattractive to her husband, and a king so that he will appear splendorous, as [Isaiah 33:17] states: "Your eyes shall behold the king in his splendor." Until when is a wife considered to be a "bride"? For thirty days.

Mishneh Torah, Rest on the Tenth of Tishrei 3:1

The Sages taught: The verse states: “And the woman, with whom a man shall lie giving seed, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening” (Leviticus 15:18). The extra term “with whom” comes to exclude a bride who does not become ritually impure; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. And the Rabbis say: It excludes the case of sexual intercourse performed in an atypical manner. Hon, son of Rav Naḥman, said to Rav Naḥman: Shall we say that Rabbi Yehuda holds: The Torah spared a bride’s adornments, including her make-up…

Once the Gemara has mentioned the idea of a woman who is eager to return to her father’s house, it discusses another context where a similar idea is mentioned. Concerning the verse “Then I was in his eyes as one that found peace” (Song of Songs 8:10), Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The meaning is: Like a bride who is considered perfect in her father-in-law’s house, and is eager to go and relate her praise in her father’s house, to tell how many complimentary things were said about her by her husband’s family…

Ketubot 71b:14-15

A bride is forbidden to her husband without the [marriage] benediction in the same manner as a niddah. Just as a niddah who has not immersed [in the ritual bath] is forbidden to her husband, so likewise is a bride forbidden to her husband without the [marriage] benediction. Whence is the benediction of bridegrooms derived from the Torah? As it is stated, And they blessed Rebekah. And whence do we derive that even a widow is so forbidden? As it is stated, And he took ten men of the elders of the city … And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders said…

Tractate Kallah 1:1-2

The Gemara responds: It is in accordance with that which Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Any bride who is modest in the house of her father-in-law merits that kings and prophets will emerge from her. From where do we derive this? From Tamar, as it is written: “When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute; for she had covered her face” (Genesis 38:15). Can it be that because Tamar covered her face he thought her to be a prostitute? On the contrary, a harlot tends to uncover her face.

Megillah 10b:14

[Maharal repeats verbatim Bavli Ketubot 17b] This is the explanation. [What Beit Hillel said] Is not considered a lie; even though the bride is not beautiful and graceful, but in the eyes of the groom who chose her, she certainly is, and our praise is not an objective appraisal, but rather to acknowledge that her groom has found her worthy. After all, the groom has chosen to marry her, and she has found favor in his eyes. Therefore, it is written that: When a person makes a bad deal in the marketplace should you praise his purchase to him or should you disparage it? This means that it is not…

Netivot Olam, Netiv Haemet 1:11

Rav Naḥman said in answer: This is analogous to a bride; as long as she is engaged but still in her father’s house, she is modest in the presence of her husband. However, once she is married and comes to her father-in-law’s house to live with her husband, she is no longer modest in the presence of her husband. Likewise, in the wilderness, when the Divine Presence did not dwell in a permanent place, it was prohibited to see the sacred objects. By contrast, all were allowed to see the sacred objects in their permanent place in the Temple.

(There is a story of Rabbi Tarfon: He was sitting and teaching his students when a bride passed before him. He told her to stop. He brought her into his house and told his mother and his wife: Bathe her, oil her skin, put makeup on her, and dance before her until she reaches her husband’s house.)

Avot DeRabbi Natan 41:13

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥamani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; you have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one bead of your necklace” (Song of Songs 4:9)? At first when you, the Jewish people, merely accepted the Torah upon yourselves it was with one of your eyes; however, when you actually perform the mitzvot it will be with both of your eyes. Ulla said with regard to the sin of the Golden Calf: Insolent is the bride who is promiscuous…

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