Wendy Hiller's blouse
Why did she tear the shoulder of her blouse after her husband dies?
Tearing clothes (kriyah) is an expression of grief and loss in Judaism.
shareThanks Joslyn-1. I feel so ignorant. Here I was trying to figure out all sorts of reasons to explain her action.
shareAccording to my lady (who is Jewish) she tore the wrong sleeve ... furthermore, many of the Jewish women in the picture were wearing their wedding ring on the wrong hand (traditionally, it's worn on the right hand rather than the left)
shareI just watched last night and noticed the same thing about the wedding bands. I think that is still common in Germanic and Eastern European countries to wear the band on the right hand, not only among the Jewish population.
shareIt makes sense that they wouldn't follow Jewish traditions and customs to the letter. As was conveyed in the masked ball scene, they were Germans, many of them able to trace their German roots back for hundreds of years. Not following or even knowing about strict Jewish tradition and dogma would be perfectly normal and realistic. Maybe it was just some sloppy oversight, but I don't think it could be considered a goof or mistake.
shareThanks for posting the question. I just saw the movie for the first time last night and I also wondered about it.
shareIt is a traditional practice to rend or tear ones clothing on the left side, nearer the heart, in mourning the death of loved ones. I think in this situation, it was purely artistic license having Wendy Hille tear the right side. The way the scene is set up, if she tore the left side, it would have been obscured by her hand and no one would have noticed she even did it. It would have required that they completely flip the scene from right to left in order to end the scene highlighting her left... the scene seems, I think, to work better as it is. Likewise, when her hands come together after tearing her blouse, you can see her wedding band on her right hand. Many Jews the world over (including my husband and me) still wear their wedding rings on the right hand.
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