Re: chairs

[Joe Kurland <ganeydn...>]

As with so many things that I've learned by osmosis, I don't know 
whether this has old origins or not, or if my interpretation is one 
that exists outside of my own invention.

It is customary to treat the bride and groom as "king and queen" on 
their wedding day.  We seat them on chairs during the dancing, not 
only to lift them, but also to honor them and entertain them with 
song and dance.

Kings and queens, it was assumed, could not be expected to walk 
anywhere on their own power.  They were carried in sedan chairs.  We 
make fun of those real kings and queens by carrying our kings and 
queen - khosn and kale - to dance, as if they were too important to 
dance by their own effort. Even before the dancing with chairs, at 
the kale bazetsn (seating of the bride) many synagogues and wedding 
halls have very "fancy" thrones (I've usually seen them made of 
wicker, rather than the gold and jewel encrusted ones you might 
expect for real queens) for the bride to sit in.

And we Jews are very democratic.  Everyone has a chance to be the 
king and queen on their wedding day.  In fact, it is said that on 
Shabbos and yontev, every Jew is a king or queen.  Note the song, 
Yontev Peysekh:

Yontev Peysekh, a heylikayt,
Az Got hot undz fun Mitzrayim bafrayt.
Derfar est men matses, kneydlekh,
Un yeder Yid iz bay zikh a meylekh.

The holiday of Peysekh, a holy thing,
because God freed us from Egypt.
So we eat matzoh and matzoh balls,
And every Jew is a king.


Zayt gezunt (be healthy),

Yosl (Joe) Kurland
The Wholesale Klezmer Band
Colrain, MA 01340
voice/fax: 413-624-3204
http://www.WholesaleKlezmer.com



At 8:23 AM -0400 6/26/01, Peter Rushefsky wrote:
>I've always assumed this ritual was invented to enable the bride & groom to
>"dance" with each other over the mechitzah, but I'd be interested to hear what
>those who have studied it more than me know.
>
>  >>> a bisl yidishkayt 06/26 7:28 AM >>>
>Haven't run across the answer to this in my reading and a student in a
>class wanted the answer:
>
>The chair lifing of khusn-kale at a khasene that is so common today - among
>at least some Hasidim as well - is this a custom that existed in Eastern
>Europe, or is it an American invention?
>
>Dena
>
>

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