A Same Sex Jewish Wedding often will showcase many of the customs and traditions that make up a traditional Jewish marriage ceremony. In this picture from a Same Sex Jewish Wedding, the grooms stand beneath the chuppah, the wedding canopy. As the image shows, the wedding was a celebration filled with love, joy, and a lot of laughter. The two grooms involved their closest family and friends in the wedding, giving many of the guests intricate roles to play in the ceremony. A few friends of the couple took part in the reading of their vows and in the different parts of the Jewish ceremony. The moment captured by the camera flash shows one of the grooms stomping his foot down on a glass in the ceremonial breaking of the glass. This part of the ceremony comes after a series of blessings and culminates the marriage event. There are a variety of interpretations as to the symbolic nature of the breaking of the glass. The most traditional and common meaning is that the broken glass is meant to memorialize and remind the couple of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Other, less religious based, interpretations of the breaking of the glass say that because the shards of glass are plentiful they represent the hope for abundant happiness in life. Interpretations at an interfaith ceremony often state that it symbolizes breaking down the barriers between people of different faiths and cultures. At this moment a friend of the couple shouts out the announcement of the ritual to the crowd of guests before them, her hand flying up into the air and a huge smile spreading across her happy face. The grooms share her joyful expression, the groom in the charcoal suit looking on in affection as his husband-to-be steps down on the napkin covered glass. The groom stepping on the glass wears a powder blue suit, showing off the separate personalities of the two men unifying on this special day.
