HOLY SHIT THAT WAS ME AND I WROTE IT IN 2009
This is my big fat Jewish legacy and I am LIVING.
Yes, it’s all structured like a Jewish wedding. @ravenfal hit most of the points here, but an important one they missed is the witnesses: they have to be unrelated to the bride, the groom, or each other. Shou at this point has “disowned” Jyuudai, and Ojama Yellow, of course, is Manjyome’s spirit.
Also of note: during the ceremony, the bride and groom each drink from a shared cup of wine. This happens twice, at two different points in the blessings—just as Jyuudai twice sends Air Hummingbird to “drink” from Yubel’s cards and take more life.
A further possible grace note is the exact things we see being destroyed during the attempt to fuse dimensions. Breaking the glass is symbolic of two things: the “breaking away” from the old home to create the new, and also the noise is supposed to remind us that even in our happiest moments we must not forget the destruction of the Temple and our hope for the Messiah to come. Two of the things we see damaged are Jyuudai’s homes, one of which was, arguably, in Yubel’s domain—the breaking of the old homes to create the new.
Also: “getting engaged” in Judaism looks very different today than it did way-back-when. Today you get on one knee, you pop the question, you pick out the ring, etc. etc. etc.—just like a gentile couple. But in ANCIENT times, the modern Jewish wedding ceremony was actually in two parts—you announced your intention and that the ketubah (wedding contract) had been drawn, and were actually wed later in a separate ceremony. Today we combine these, because there is no more “we had to take four days to travel 20 miles between villages,” so you sign the ketubah right before the groom unveils you and you walk down the aisle. (Yes—the bride may choose for her groom to re-veil her so she can walk down the aisle with a veil, but she’s traditionally unveiled.) Yubel and Jyuudai duel twice—and in between them he “unveils” Yubel by casting them out of Johann’s body.
The metaphor can be carried further, into Episode 156: it’s considered very bad form to make your guests wait to eat while you’re in seclusion since they may have traveled a long way and endured hardship to celebrate with you, even though the retiring period only lasts 15-20 minutes (and is traditionally actually to rest and break your 24-hour wedding fast so you don’t faint when you get to the actual feast—and to properly introduce yourselves, since in ancient times marriages were arranged). Thus, something like hors d’ouvres may be served so your guests aren’t left hungry while they celebrate and await your return—like the meal happening in the recap episode.
As for “how on earth did they get THERE from HERE?”, there’s actually a shorter research path than you might think. Much of GX is based in alchemy, which leads to mysticism, which leads to Kabbalah which is Jewish mysticism, and once you’re there, you discover Judaism is a wealth of symbolism and layers, and you’ve done the research already, so….voila.
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