The Mitzvah of Hachnasat Kallah
According to Jewish law, all Jews are obligated
to give charity to the needy regardless of their
financial situation. The Shulchan Aruch, the authoritative
code of Jewish law, states that giving charity
will never negatively affect one’s finances.
Giving charity actually benefits the giver because
G-d has compassion on those who have compassion
on the poor.
There is no shortage of worthy institutions
and individuals to whom a Jew can give charity.
Nonetheless, the Shulchan Aruch states that
certain charitable causes take precedence
over others, with one of the most important
ones being marrying off poor brides, referred
to in Jewish literature as hachnasat kallah.
Jewish sources indicate that participating
in the mitzvah of hachnasat kallah provides
a person with many personal benefits. A
well known mishna in Peah, recited daily
in the morning prayers, lists hachnasat
kallah among a select few commandments that
benefit a person both in this world and
the next world. The mishna itself does not
describe the benefits; however other Jewish
sources indicate that hachnasat kallah assists
one in finding a spouse, being blessed with
children and being saved from a life threatening
illness.
Hachnasat Kallah as a Merit for
Finding One’s Spouse and having Children
The tractate of Sotah states that there is a
fundamental rule that G-d treats a person in the
same way as he treats others. For instance, the
mishna says that in the merit of Miriam waiting
for her infant brother Moses who was placed in
a basket in the Nile River, the entire Jewish
nation waited for her when she had tzaraas (a
skin disease).
It would likewise make sense that in the merit
of helping someone else marry, Heaven will help
one find his or her spouse.
It appears that hachnasat kallah can also be
a merit for having children. The Tractate of Shabbos
states that one of the questions asked of a person
after death is whether he was involved in the
mitzvah of pru u’revu, the commandment to
have children. The commentary of Maharsha asks
how Heaven can hold a person responsible for something
not in his control. He answers that one is not
asked whether he fulfilled the mitzvah of pru
u’revu, but whether he was involved in the
mitzvah. He adds that assisting orphans to get
married, which will lead them to having children,
is considered involvement in the mitzvah of pru
u’revu.
Hachnasat Kallah as Protection from Death
It is well known that the Steipler Gaon zt”l,
one of the leaders of religious Jewry until his
death in 1985, opined that participating in the
mitzvah of hachnasat kallah protects a terminally
ill person from death. He brought a proof from
the mishna in Peah cited above, “these are
the precepts whose fruits a person enjoys in This
World but whose principal remains intact in the
World to Come. They are… visiting the sick,
providing for a bride, accompanying the dead…”
The Steipler asked why the mishna enumerates
the three precepts in that order. He explained
that this order was chosen to teach that hachnasat
kallah can intervene and protect the ill from
death.
He explained the mishna in the following manner:
If one is so sick that people are coming to visit
him, he should forestall death and being accompanied
to his grave by providing for a bride. The Steipler
believed that the mitzvah of providing for brides
was placed between visiting the sick and accompanying
the dead to teach us that hachnasat kallah can
serve as a barricade between sickness and death.
Over twenty years ago, the chief rabbi of Belgium,
HaRav Chaim Kreisworth zt”l was very
ill. He visited the Steipler to receive
his blessings and advice. The Steipler advised
him to undertake marrying off needy brides.
Rav Chaim immediately began to do so and
miraculously recovered, living to the age
of eighty-two.
Making a Wedding for an Orphan
on the Same Day as Your Child’s Wedding
Many people have the custom of giving charity
on their wedding day or their child’s
wedding day. One excellent way of showing
gratitude for marrying off a child is to
pay for the wedding of a person who doesn’t
have parents to do so. Darchei Moshe on
the Tur states that Rabbi Yechiel of Paris,
a 13th century leader of French Jewry, would
marry off orphans at the same time that
he married off his own children.
Donors may ask the couples they helped
marry off to pray on their behalf or on
behalf of their loved ones.
Simchat Tzion offers you the opportunity
to fulfill the unique mitzvah of hachnasat
kallah. We invite you to look at the Upcoming
Wedding page of this website to find an
orphan for whom you are willing to sponsor
a wedding in whole or part.
Through the merit of participating in this mitzvah
may you and your family be blessed with health,
happiness, and fulfillment throughout your life.
Sponsor A Wedding Now
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