The Jewish Chronicle

Wearing a kittel at a wedding

May 25, 2014 09:28

ByRabbi Julian Sinclair, Rabbi Julian Sinclair

1 min read

At my wedding, I wore a new M & S suit with a white robe on top called a kittel. 

This way, I matched with my wife’s outfit. Wearing a white kittel is also supposed to help the bride and groom match spiritually, too. White symbolises purity and freedom from sin. Your wedding day is like a little Yom Kippur, a day when all previous mistakes are forgiven and we get to make a new start.

However, along with a fresh start, the kittel also reminds us of the inevitability of death.  For the kittel is the traditional death shroud.

What’s death doing at a wedding? Even at our happiest moments, we are meant to remember our mortality.  In the end, it is our good deeds that we will leave behind us.

A kittel has no pockets. This symbolises the idea that bride and groom are marrying for love rather than for the material possessions that either may be bringing into the marriage.