Groom wins NIS 30,000 damages after injuring his foot breaking the glass

A Tel Aviv court has awarded a groom NIS 30,000 ($8,000) in damages after he injured his foot performing the glass breaking ritual at his wedding ceremony.

At the culmination of the ceremony that took place last summer, the unnamed man stomped on the glass. But the cries of celebrations from the guests were mingled with his cries of pain as a shard of glass penetrated his shoe and cut his foot.

The glass-breaking ritual at Jewish weddings is meant to underline that joy should always be tempered, and also to recall, even at this happiest of events, the destruction of the ancient Jewish temples.

The man sued the wedding hall, claiming that he had been given an “unusually thick” glass to break. He also charged that the hall did not have a proper first aid kit and had used wet wipes and a makeshift bandage on his foot.

The wedding hall countered that it had given the glass to one of the guests and had no idea what the guest planned to do with it.

Tel Aviv District Court Judge Yaron Bashan rejected the defense, saying that the glass was clearly intended to be used in the ceremony, according to Hadashot TV news.

He awarded the groom NIS 30,000 — NIS 25,000 in damages and NIS 5,000 in legal costs.