What are the two parts of Jewish marriage and when do they happen (ארוסין/ נשואין)?

The Biblically defined wedding ceremony actually consists of two parts: nesuin or marriage and or erusin.

Erusin can be likened to an engagement rather than marriage, as it doesn't allow the couple to reside together or engage in marital relations. However, once erusin is finalized, the woman assumes the full status of a married woman, and the man also attains the status of a married man. They are then prohibited from intimate relations with anyone else (Deuteronomy 20:7; Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Made in Heaven, pp. 133-4). Hence, in contemporary practice, erusin and nesuin are often combined to avoid a scenario where the woman is considered married but is not living with her husband.

Nesuin originates from a term meaning "to lift or take," suggesting the action of the man taking the woman as his wife. Once this step is taken, they are officially husband and wife, permitted to cohabit and engage in intimate relations.

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