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1. The Jewish Wedding and the Ten Tribes
In Biblical and Talmudic Times marriage was divided into two sections:
a. Ayrusin i.e. Engagement.
b. Nisuin i.e. Marriage.
The couple would get engaged and about a year later complete the process with marriage.
During that time they would live apart but the woman would be treated with more stringency than as if she were married.
For instance, The daughter of a Cohen who was engaged and willfully had intercourse with another man would be put to death by a harsher means of execution than if she were married.
The male offender would also be put to death with the same penalty.
The crime of the engaged woman in this case was considered worse than that of a married woman.
Nowadays due to historical circumstances the two aspects of the process are combined in one ceremony.
The Ayrusin and the Nisuin take place at the same time straight after each other.
In practice Jewish couples announce their engagement meaning intention to marry and the female is given an engagement ring but this has no legal standing in the Biblical sense.
When a couple decides to marry in Israel they have to register in the offices of the Rabbinut.
The girl has an interview with a woman officiate (Rabbinette) to verify the physical feasibility of the proposed wedding date.
Both parties have to bring two witnesses that they are Jewish and are not presently married to anyone else.
The marriage can take place within about a month of the date being set.
A woman convert to Judaism can only get married three months after her conversion.
On the day of the marriage both parties fast at the least from before sunrise. They neither eat nor drink the whole day.
They should also confess their sins in private prayer before the Almighty. This day is considered a minor Yom Kippur
(Day of Atonement) on which all their sins will be forgiven and they may start again as new people.
A feature of the reading ceremony is the reading of the Ketubah. This is an agreement written in Aramaic according to a set formulation in which the groom (chatan) undertakes his obligations to look after his wife and their children and to guarantee a sum of money in the event of divorce or death.
The couple will arrive separately at the Wedding Hall. The girl sits with the females, the boy with the males.
The Rabbi takes the groom aside. They may go over the Ketubah and then the chatan signs it.
The two parties are then lead forward by their accompaniment to the Chuppah (canopy) which will usually be situated outside under the open sky in the courtyard of the wedding hall though it can also be set up inside.
The Ketubah is read out.
Then the chatan makes a blessing and gives the bride (chalah) a ring. The ring will usually be made of gold or silver. It will preferably be a simple piece of metal and not have any engravings etc on it.
This is the Ayrusin part of the ceremony.
The chatan is given a glass (usually wrapped in paper) which he stamps upon and declares,
"If I forget Jerusalem may my right hand forget its cunning".
Then a set of very short blessings are read out by important guests.
After that,
amongst many Ashekanazic communities the chatan is seated in a chair and the chalah lead by her girlfriends seven times in a circle around him.
This is based on the verse,
FOR THE LORD HATH CREATED A NEW THING IN THE EARTH, A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN [Jeremiah 31:22].
Abarbanel on this verse says it refers to the Ten Tribes who at first would be weak like a woman but later would gain strength like a man and overcome the Gentiles.
Radak: ##A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN: It is the way of the world that a man goes after and hangs around a woman, as the sages said: 'Someone who has lost something seeks after what he is lacking'. Here the female goes after and around the man, that is the Children of Israel will repent and return to their God who will redeem them##.
A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN: In Hebrew can be said to mean that a woman shall surround (or walk around) a man. The Rabbis said (Yebamot 62) that a person should get married. "Every one without a wife dwells without happiness; without blessing, without goodness etc. In Israel they said, without Torah, without a wall [to encircle and protect him from temptation] as it says, A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN".
See also:
Jewish wedding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_wedding
Guide to the Jewish Wedding
http://www.aish.com/jl/l/48969841.html
2. Cave of the Patriarchs
http://www.machpela.com/english/tour.asp?pageid=9
3. What are the Practical Implications Regarding an Edomite from Deuteronomy 23:7?
Brit-Am Reply:
Deu 23:7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.
Deu 23:8 The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.
An Egyptian or an Edomite who wished to convert could do so. Unlike other converts however they could not marry with regular Israelites but had to marry fellow converts or their descendants for three generations after which they would be accepted as regular Israelites.
When the Assyrians conquered all or most of the world they deliberately intermixed the various peoples.
Since that time it has been considered impossible to definitely define the specific Biblical Ancestry of anyone. Consequently all rulings concerning specific peoples were no longer enforced.
