A wedding is an act of creation– a radical pronouncement that the binding of two individuals is good, just as Gd’s creation of AdamAdam is the first human being created by God. Symbolizes: Creation, humankind. is good.
This ritual reinvents the Breaking of the Glass and turns it into a physical moment to infuse the chuppah with magic and meaning. The earth/dirt required for this ritual can either be collected over a period of time (the couple can collect dirt or sand from any meaningful location in their lives before their ceremony), or be picked up right off the ground if they are choosing to hold their wedding ceremony outdoors. If the couple decides to collect dirt over time, they can deposit their collections in a jar to sit under the chuppah during the ceremony.
וַיִּיצֶר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה׃
Va’yi’tzer Adonai Elohim et-ha’adam afar min-ha’adamah, va’yipach b’a’pav nishmat chayim, va’yi’hi ha’adam l’nefesh chayah.
HaShemLit. The Name, referring to the ineffable name of God; used as a substitute for any of the more sacred names of God when not speaking in prayer. Particularly used in conversation. formed human, Adam, from the dust of the earth, adamah. HaShem blew into Adam’s nostrils nishmat chayim, the breath of life….and human became a living being.
We are witnessing a creation, of the coming together of [name] and [name]. We know from the book of Bereshit that Gd creates humans from the earth, and with a breath.
Now the decision to create humans was not without controversy. There is a midrashA rabbinic method of interpreting text, often through the telling of stories. that tells the story of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s four ministering angels having a debate of whether creating humans was a good or bad idea. On the one hand, humans bring loving kindness and justice into this world. On the other hand, they bring lies and strife. And yet, knowing that humanity is inherently a flawed enterprise, HaKadosh Baruch Hu decides to go ahead and create humanity anyways.
Choosing to create something is radical. Like the creation of humanity, choosing to love and form deep partnership comes with challenges and fragility, and a relationship must be tended to with tenderness and compassion.
Invite [name] and [name] to pick up and hold their vessels.
In your hands you are holding a fragile vessel, a glass made of glass. The empty space of the container is waiting to be filled with your words of creation. In a few quiet breaths, breathe life into your marriage with personal words of blessing: your hopes and dreams, your commitment to your partner, whatever you want to bless your relationship with, whisper it right into the glass. Make sure to cap the top of the glass with your hand when you are finished, in order to prevent the blessings from escaping.
Wait for each to finish whispering, have them cover the opening of their vessel with their hand.
To seal the blessings in the vessel, hand your glass to each other, and you will each blow your own neshamahSoul, breath, into each others’ glasses.
Let them blow a breath in each other’s vessel.
Now the blessings are sealed. (Optional: For months [name] and [name] have collected soil and dirt from significant locations that have held meaning in their relationship, and have deposited them in this goblet. They will continue to add more and more soil as their relationship goes on.) To ignite the creation of life into your blessings, reach down and grab a little bit of adamah, of earth, and sprinkle a few bits of dirt into each of the vessels.
They sprinkle.
With breath, neshamah, and earth, adamah, your blessings are now alive inside of your vessels. Your blessings are now alive inside of your vessels. Place your vessel in the cloth pouch.
They place in pouch.
As you step on the vessel and break the fragile glass, may you choose creation and love. May your blessings, your hopes, dreams, and commitments to each other and to your partnership, be liberated and released from the vessel and into the universe, and may they travel to the heavens and reach the all-knowing one HaShem.
They place the pouch on the ground and smash.
Ken Yehi Ratzon- may it be Gds will that your blessings find a home in your home.
