PETER S. KNOBEL
Witnessed this day of Parashat(Hebrew date)
The witnesses:
55
One may quarrel with some of the formulations and provisions, but it is a far-reaching revision of marital halakhah. It does not tinker around the edges but moves the whole enterprise from property to partnership law. Adler’s proposal, whether it is accepted in detail or not, is a way of normalizing liberal Jewish marriage in a halakhic framework. She suggests that the kinyan be a symbolic pooling resources where each partner places an object of value in the bag and the bag is held together. Since rings are metonymically not incidental to the wedding ceremony but in fact are understood to constitute marriage, she suggests that the couple put the rings in the bag.
The ceremony she proposes takes place under a chuppal, begins with Mi addir, and is followed by an officiant’s speech explaining the ceremony and its difference from kiddushin as well as speaking personally about the couple. This is followed by the blessing over the wine, which is then shared among those who are under the chuppah. The brit document is read. The kinyan takes place. The partners place objects in the bag and then lift the bag and recite a blessing. The Sheva Berachot are recited, a glass is broken, and the couple departs for Yichud.>®