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As we have already noted, the view of Rambam, if only due to its stringencies, is not the one that is popularly followed these days. That being the case, what do we consider to be the chupah? The Beit Yoseif, after citing Rambam and the dissension of Ran against him, goes on to rule that chupah occurs when the groom brings the wife from her father’s house into his house. This view seems to make perfect sense with the various verses in the Torah that refer to an unmarried girl as still being in her “father’s house.” (e.g. Vayikra 22:13, Bamidbar 30:4) This view also makes sense in light of a statement of the Perisha. He notes that the word “chupah” stems from the word “chofeh,” meaning to cover or protect. It is used here to indicate the fact that once the woman enters into the domain of her husband, he then accepts upon himself the responsibility of caring for and protecting her (we will see that this statement of the Perisha can work for other views as well).

The Beit Yoseif also brings down two more views as to what chupah is. He cites the Orchot Chaim, speaking in the name of the Ittur, who claims that Jewish wedding -  chupah occurs when the father of the bride hands over his daughter to her groom and they together enter into a house (or some structure) that has something new done to it and they are alone together there. As an example, he notes that some people fulfilled this by making a booth out of roses, which sounds somewhat similar to what we refer to today as a chupah. The Beit Yoseif also notes a view that says that a chupah is when a cloth is spread over the heads of the bride and groom when the blessings are made for them. While he rejects this view, we will see that it is a practice which has survived and is part of our “chupah” today.

Having reviewed the major opinions as to what a “chupah” is, what are we to do in practice? This issue is solved largely by the Bach. Thus, in his time, when weddings were often done on Fridays before Shabbat, the head of the bride would be covered after Shacharit (thus fulfilling Tosafot in Yoma 13a, which says that chupah is when the bride leaves her house with her hair adorned). It seems that the basic assumption was that this would be done by her father or by the Rabbi, and thus the Bach notes that the groom should either do this by himself or at least have a part in doing so. Then, when the blessings were to be made, a canopy would be placed on poles and held over the bride and the groom. After the blessings were complete, the bride and groom would retreat to their house and eat in a secluded place, which was considered to be the main fulfillment of chupah.

Our practice is basically the same. Before what we call the chupah is the “bedeken” (from the German meaning “to cover”; not from the Hebrew for “to check”), where the groom brings the veil down over the face of the bride. While there are several reasons for this practice, the fact that it may constitute chupah has led some poskim to require that two witnesses be designated for this part of the ceremony as well as for everything that follows. We follow the bedeken with what is known as the chupah, where the bride and groom stand under the canopy (or tallit, or both) and the blessings are recited. Finally, they retire to the “yichud room,” where they share a meal together. As those who claim that yichud constitutes chupah speak of the groom bringing the bride into his domicile, there are those (Mishna Berura and others) who require that the groom “own” the yichud room, usually done by making a mainly nominal deal with the owner of the catering hall or hotel. Again, as yichud may be the actual chupah, witnesses are designated and stand guard outside the room. Judaica articles.