Question:
What are the Halachos Relevant to the Sheva Brachos Meals?
Answer:
Where either the bride or groom have never been married before, meals can be made in their honor for the seven days after their wedding, with the day of their wedding counting as the first day. These meals have the status of Seudos Mitzvah, and it is therefore preferable to have meat and wine, but Sheva Brochas are still recited if there was no meat or wine.
The sheva brochas are only recited at a meal in which bread is eaten and Birkas hamazon is recited. Maseches Sofrim 19:11 implies otherwise, but the Tur and Shulchan Aruch 62:5 indicate that only after a meal should Sheva Brachos be recited, and this is the ruling of the Aruch Hashulchan 62:26. Sme other sefardi poskim write that even Mezonos would be insufficient.
According to some Sephardim, if the meals during the week after the wedding do not take place in the house of groom one may only make the brocha of hagefen and ashar bara (and not all sheva brochas). Yalkut Yosef (Chupah VeKiddushin pg 301) rules that in order to make all 7 Brachos of Sheva Brachos one needs to fulfill three conditions: 1) it takes place in the house of groom, 2)there is ten men there, and 3) there’s two new faces. On pg 307 he writes that when making a meal not in the house of the groom the one doing Zimmun makes Hagefen, and asher bara and then drink from the wine. He should also have the bride and groom and groom in mind and the bride and groom should have in mind to fulfill his obligation when making the Brachos and have them taste the wine afterwards. Siddur Kol Eliyahu (pg 916) which is based on the rulings of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu writes that the proper minhag is only to make the 7 Brachos when one is having the meal in the house of the bride and groom.
It is permissible for a Sephardic groom to ask an Ashkenazi who participates in the sheva brochas meal to recite the brochas of the sheva brochas even when it isn’t in the groom’s house.
In order to recite all 7 brochas, one must invite someone who did not attend either the wedding or a previous sheva brochas. While some poskim require that the panim chadashos be given a setting, others are more lenient; the minhag is to be lenient and allow calling in a stranger or waiter to count as panim chadashos.
The Panim Chadashos can come even in the middle or towards the end of the meal.
A woman or a child cannot count as a panim chadashos.
While many poskim hold that panim chadashos means only one new person, some hold that two are required. The Chelkas Mechokek EH 62:9 writes that you only need one new person for panim chadashos. This is also the opinion of the Aruch Hashulchan 62:24. Some sefardi poskim are strict for the Rav Avraham Ben HaRambam (teshuva 86 and 110) in explaining the Rambam that two people are necessary.
Ideally, at least ten of the attendees should eat bread. However, many poskim allow Sheva Brochas to be said if only seven people ate bread, and some even permit Sheva Brochas to be said if only three people ate bread, as long as there is a minyan in attendance. Either way, the bride and groom themselves should have eaten bread.
If both the Choson and the Kallah have been previously married, Sheva Brochas is only recited for one day.A choson is compared to a king. Just like a king wears fancy attire, so too a choson should wear fancy attire throughout the Sheva Brochas week. |