Ask the Expert: Veiled Bride

Ask the Expert: Veiled Bride

Question: I’m getting married soon and I’ve noticed that many Jewish brides are veiled at their weddings. Is that required?Prior to an Ashkenazi Jewish wedding, it’s common to have a bedeken, a ceremony in which the groom covers the bride’s face with a veil just before the two join together under the chuppah, the marriage canopy. At my own bedeken, Rabbi Leora Kaye shared two scenes from the Book of Genesis. The first was the story of Jacob, Rac…