Symbolism of Jewish Wedding Glass

The breaking of the Jewish wedding glass is one of the most beloved traditions of a Jewish wedding. After the couple is pronounced husband and wife, a Jewish wedding glass is placed on the ground, and with a stamp, the groom crushes the glass, and the guests shout, "MAZAL TOV!!"

But what does this tradition mean and where did it originate? A story of broken wedding glass first appears in the Talmud. Mar, the son of Ravina, was having a wedding for his son. He found that the guests were very joyful and very boisterous - too joyful - so he took an expensive wedding goblet and crushed it on the floor, which made shards of broken wedding glass.

Mar thought that that his guests were overly joyful and felt that even in times of joy, people shouldn’t get carried away, because then you might forget yourself and it could lead to sin. You have to temper your joy, and to always be mindful of the other sad things that exist.

That is the background of it, but there has been lots of spin on that interpretation, and lots of interesting interpretations of the broken wedding glass. Below is an infographic that gives 10 different meaning of the breaking of the Jewish wedding glass.