Beautiful and White Garments
Bride and groom are commanded to wear beautiful clothing at the time of their wedding.1 With regard to the bride, our Sages mention not only wearing beautiful clothing, but also to be bedecked in jewels (“the jewels of the bride”).2
In many Jewish communities, the custom is that the bride and groom wear white garments.3 In describing how matches were made in ancient times, the Talmud also states4 that “daughters of Israel would go out in white garments.”
There are other matters in Judaism where emphasis is placed on the color white. For example,5 the garments worn by the High Priest on Yom Kippur; the parchment of tefillin, the frankincense in the incense, etc., all are to be white.
Various explanations are offered regarding the special quality of the color white. Among them, that white denotes impeccability and purity, as the verse states: “If your sins are like crimson, they will become white as snow.”6
The garments of bride and groom are thus white as well, for on their wedding day, their sins are forgiven and they become as pure and chaste as the white snow.
White — An Intrinsic Color
According to Kabbalah and Chassidus7 there is an essential connection between the color white and a wedding:
The color white is unique among all other colors in that it is original and intrinsic, revealed in this physical world similar to its appearance above. All other colors, however, are man-made or produced by nature — they are not of the same lofty origin as white.
A wedding, as well, is an act that is established from Heaven — as is stated, “G‑d arranges matches”8 — and not only something brought about by man below.
White — An Essential Part of the Object
There are many proofs regarding the unique qualities of the color white:
a) A white object (i.e., it is naturally white, not colored white) cannot have its color removed. Although we may remove many layers of the object, it will still remain white, since the object’s whiteness is part and parcel of the very object itself and not merely an outer layer that envelops it. It is therefore impossible to separate and sever the color from the object.9
Other colors, however, can be peeled and scraped off and the object will cease to be of that particular color. For these colors are merely an outer layer that encase the object, which is why they can be separated from it.
The reason for this lies in the intrinsic nature of the color white and its distinct difference from all other colors:
All other colors are man-made (by combining different elements) and not an original creation of the Creator. It is self-understood that man cannot make something that will become an intrinsic part of an object that was Divinely created — it can only serve as an object’s external layer and coating.
However, since it was created by G‑d Himself, the color white can very well be part of the object’s very essence.10
There Is But One Color White
b) All other colors possess a multitude of shades and tints. For example, there is plain red, crimson red, ruby red, cherry red, etc. The same is true with all other colors. The color white, however, has but one hue and shade.
The reason for this is that all other colors have not been formed from Above. Rather, man combined different colors to create a specific color. Therefore, with but a simple change in the combination of pigments and the like, a different hue and tint of the same color will result.
Since white, however, is an original color — appearing as it was created from Above and not as an admixture of colors — it does not possess different shades; any blend of white with another color will inevitably result in a color that ceases to be white. White thus can only be one color — the whiteness as it appears in its original created state.
c) All other colors are best visible and most authentic when they are painted on a white background. If painted on a colored background, they will sometimes appear to change color and will not appear as they truly are.
The reason for this lies in the essential characteristic of the color white. Since it is an original and truly authentic color created from Above, it can therefore serve as a good and proper foundation to absorb all the other man-made colors that are painted over it.
White — A Singular and Intrinsic Color
The source of the above-mentioned is to be found in a discourse of the Rebbe Rashab. He writes:11
“White differs from the other colors in that it is an intrinsic color; i.e., it is not an adjunct to the object itself but is part of the essence.
“Other colors, such as red, are additions to the object itself. Thus if an object is red, it does not mean that it is inherently red; rather, a combination of factors caused it to be red. Thus a red glass or stone are not intrinsically red but were dyed or painted red.
“Colors themselves are not intrinsic entities, but are composites of different things, so as a result of a particular reason or as a result of the combination of different entities, they take on a particular color and hue.
“This explains why there are so many shades and hues of each particular color, with a multitude of admixtures and combinations. For example, there is red, reddish, extremely red, etc. For these colors are essentially composites; thus they can be composed of admixtures of various other shades and hues.
“White, however, is a simple, neutral and essential color, having no leaning toward any other particular color. The differences found in white are merely intrinsic differences within whiteness itself, such as white as snow, white as wool, white as lime, etc. But white itself has no inclination or susceptibility to any other color, for it is an intrinsic color.”12
A Wedding — Unification at Its Source
In light of the above, we can more fully understand the essential and intrinsic connection of a wedding with the color white:
When bride and groom choose each other, this choice is not only made by them but is also arranged by G‑d above, for as mentioned earlier, “G‑d arranges matches”; [i.e.,] G‑d decides who shall marry whom.
This is alluded to by wearing white on the wedding day.
Just as the color white is a creation from Above and not man-made, so too the marriage of bride and groom is decided upon and arranged from Above and does not depend on bride and groom alone.