Beyond Breaking the Glass [Paperback]

Nancy Wiener (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2001

This volume provides an essential guide to the Jewish wedding ceremony.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: CCAR Press (May 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881230979
• ISBN-13: 978-0881230970
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It gives you options; it is up to you to decide, February 13, 2002

By 

Zingcuk (Newton, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Breaking the Glass (Paperback)

This is the best book we read on Jewish weddings. It is helping us a lot on the hard process of deciding how a meaningful-to-you Jewish wedding should look like. The author does not dictate any custom based on tradition or halakha. She gives you explanations to all the different aspects of the Jewish wedding, and it is up to you to decide.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read if You're Planning a Jewish Wedding, February 5, 2002

By 

Rachel M Ferat (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Breaking the Glass (Paperback)

I have to admit that I was asked by the author, via a mutual friend, to write this review. That said, I should add that in order to write this, I had to dig the book out of the pile I threw it into after copying out my vows in the frantic few days before my wedding.

Beyond Breaking the Glass is an excellent first source for information on planning and/or understanding your Jewish wedding ceremony. The simple language clearly explains the steps, history, and relevance of a Jewish wedding ceremony in a way that was understandable but not pandering both to me (a religious school teacher) and my husband (a Jewish-by-blood atheist.)

The only thing Wiener leaves out is the new movement in liberal Jewish weddings, Brit Ahuvim (see Rachel Adler's work for a complete explanation of this ceremony.) With sections on re-marriage, same-sex marriage, and a whole chapter on interfaith marriage, this book is a must-read for every liberal Jew preparing to approach the chuppah.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book disappointed me, October 30, 2003

By 

J02446 "j02446" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Breaking the Glass (Paperback)

This book is not a great book to read with your beloved as you plan your wedding. The tone is so NEGATIVE--It's a jarring read. Planning a wedding is fun and exciting, despite the difficult choices and problems that arise (that's true of all weddings--reform to Orthodox, gay to straight). This book spends more time shooting down the opposition than providing ways to celebrate your loving relationship. Here's an example: midway through the book, the author digresses to expose Judaism's embrace of polygamy in some lands more recently than you probably knew. That's interesting stuff but it's not what I want to discuss with my fiancee while we're deciding on the wording of our Ketubah! I appreciate all the criticism of Judaism (or really the way it is practiced, although the author didn't make that distinction), but it's not a great read for wedding planning.

One exception: Without a doubt, there are few resources for same sex couples and this book does address those issues. If you're planning a same sex union and just cannot find anything to help your planning, this book would be helpful. Hopefully, someone will write a better book for the Gay/Lesbian community and the rest of us too!