Shalom U'Vracha and thank
you for your question. I was surprised to find that there
are those who hold that it is a problem for a pregnant woman
to be in a wedding retinue- which in Aramaic is called being
a "shushbanin". While most rabbis hold
that a pregnant woman can be a shushbanin at the chuppah,
there is a minority opinion that she should not be.
This opinion can be found
in the responsa of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in the book Yagdil
Torah chapter 181, where he explains that the reason for this
custom is so that the pregant woman will not suffer any harm
at the time of the chuppah. The Rebbe writes that he was unable
to clarify the Chabad custom on this matter, since it would
be a source of terrible anguish for a pregnant mother of a
bride or groom to not accompany a child to the chuppah, so
that it would be incredibly surprising to say such a thing.
If this is the situation, he advises that they have another
couple walk to the chuppah and stand under it with them.
I am not familiar with the
customs of Chabad or the Kabbalistic significance of how the
mother will be hurt. Maybe he is referring to the concept
of the evil eye hurting the pregnant mother. All of this is
only custom, however, and unless someone has a strong tradition
in their family, they shouldn't worry about a pregnant woman
being in a retinue- especially in cases when the pregnant
woman is not one of the parents accompanying the bride and
groom. Wishing you a happy and kosher Passover, Rabbi Da'vid
Sperling
