What is the reason that after a bride & groom get married they celebrate Sheva Brachot for 7 days? Is it important to do so? What is the purpose and meaning behind it?

Is it important? Is a rabbi Jewish?

The intense celebrating together of a bride and groom on their first week of marriage is revealed in the Torah when Yaakov marries Leah. Even though Yaakov really desired Rachel, he could not marry her until after his special week with Leah had passed (Genesis 29:27). The Bible also records Shimshon (Samson) celebrating his wedding for seven days (Judges

Although Yaakov accepted this first week of celebration as a proper custom, Moshe Rabeinu (Moses) later instituted it as a binding decree. Some commentators even understand it to be a Torah law.

But there are two separate issues here: 1) the exclusive time that a new husband and wife must share together & 2) what are referred to as Sheva Brachot, the festive meals that friends celebrate with the bride and groom during these same first seven days of marriage, which culminate with the recital, after Bircat Hamazon, of the same seven (Sheva) blessings (Brachot) which were recited under the chupa..

Issue Number One is non-negotiable. A new husband and wife must even take off from work to share with each other for the entire first week of their marriage. (In fact, even during the entire first year of marriage, neither spouse should travel away from home without the other.)

But Number Two, the festive meals with friends, are a custom. As such, technically they are not obligatory. Since they require at least ten men participating (counting the groom), with one being a Panim Chadashot (new guest who did not attend the wedding or any previous Sheva Brachot), they are not always so easy to arrange. (Note: A Panim Chadashot is not required on Shabbos.)

However, academic realities aside, it’s a very special mitzvah to arrange Sheva Brachot celebrations on all seven days. Family and friends should consider it a great honor and merit to split up hosting these meals. If some meals are still left open, the bride and groom should try to host them themselves, if they are blessed with the means.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan ob’m explains the reason for this best: “It is not the Jewish practice for the bride and groom to ‘escape’ on a honeymoon right after the wedding. Rather, they remain in their home community. They are beginning their married life, not separated from the community, but as an integral part of it.” (Made In Heaven, p. 230.)

Sheva Brachot turn the private simcha of a newly created Jewish family unit into the communal simcha that it truly is. We typically bless new couples: May you build a bayis ne’eman b’Yisrael -a faithful house in Israel. It’s not enough for a couple to build a faithful house -it must be part of Israel, integrally connected to the whole of our nation.

Some people dream about what kind of Sheva Brachot they will have for years before their wedding. No convincing is required for them. But some people are more private and uncomfortable with all the attention, even after their lively wedding. These people should make an effort to appreciate that G-d desires the unity of the Jewish People, and that coming together at times of joy is a very important way to achieve this unity. The Torah was not given to Avraham or Yitzchak or Yaakov, as great as they were. It was given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. G-d desires that Jewish people always act as one nation, and one of the best places to start is by sharing our private simchas with our nation as a whole.