Q&A: Yichud Room
Yichud Room
Question
A couple (Ashkenazim) is getting married in a small event garden that has only one large hall, and no room or office that could be used as a yichud room. (Using the entire hall as a yichud room would be very impractical, because of all the staff and guests going in and out.)
The following possibilities came up:
A. To hold the event without a yichud room, and after the event the witnesses would come with the couple to the place where they will be secluded together. (Follow-up question: does it make a difference whether the place where they are secluded is in the same town as the event garden, or far from it?)
B. To have the yichud during the event inside a vehicle (a large van, in a way that makes it possible to stand and sit inside comfortably, and with no windows).
A question relevant to both possibilities: does the groom have to rent the room/vehicle from its owner?
Thank you very much!
Answer
It really is not a big deal. This is a custom that is not strictly required by Jewish law. Living together is yichud. And fundamentally, witnesses are not really needed for yichud, since witnesses are required only for betrothal, not for marriage. And in fact, Sephardim do not have a yichud room.
If you want, either A or B is possible. B is definitely a yichud room.
Maimonides' view is that the room has to belong to the groom, so if you do it in a car, they should rent it to the groom for a shekel.