I was told that according to Jewish custom, when a man married a woman (contracturally) after the consummation of the marriage, the father of the bride was given a blanket soiled with the blood from the brides broken hymen which was used to prove the brides virginity. I wanted to know if this was true and where could I find this in writing either through the internet or other literature.
Thank you.
Hi,
What you mention is not a Jewish custom and never has been. The misconception has arisen from a paragraph in the Torah (Five Books of Moses) which discusses the case of a women whose husband accuses her of adultery:
"When a man marries a woman…and invents charges against her…saying…'I have not found tokens of her virginity' (that is, he brings witnesses who saw that she was unfaithful after she was engaged to him, and thus when he consummated the marriage, she was not a virgin)…the girl's father and mother then obtain evidence of their daughter's virtue…AND SPREAD OUT THE SHEET before the elders of the city…" (Deuteronomy 22:13-17).
Now, according to the Jewish Biblical commentators, the term "spread out the sheet" was never taken literally, but rather is a figurative expression meaning that the girl's parents bring two witnesses of their own to contradict the husband's witnesses, and thereby prove that their daughter was a virgin at the time that the marriage was consummated.
I hope this answers your question.