Jews also put ash of their foreheads on a certain occasion, in modern times. Specifically, under the chuppa at a wedding, the groom gets ash put not on the forehead but higher up on the head pate - the place where typically the tefillin (phylacteries) is worn.
This is taken from the order of a Taanit, fast day. As we see in Bavli Taanit 15b,
ובשבע אחרונות מוציאין את התיבה לרחובה של עיר
ונותנין אפר על גבי התיבה
ובראש הנשיא
ובראש אב בית דין
וכל אחד ואחד נוטל ונותן בראשוAnd in the latter seven fasts they take the teva to the main street of the city
And they put ash atop the teva
And on the head of the nasi (prince)
And on the head of the Av Bet Din
And each one takes and places it on his head.
Under the chuppa I think it is placed in remembrance of the destroyed Temple. (no pun intended :)
Why specifically in the place of the tefillin? As we read on the next page, Taanit 16a,
And where do you place it?
Rabbi Yitzchak says: in the place of tefillin
As it states in Yeshaya 61:3: To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them glory in place of ashes. Or, as the JPS translation likes to say:
Now, elsewhere, we associate פְּאֵר with tefillin - the bracha we say in the morning of Oter Yisrael BiTifara - "Who crowns Israel with glory" is a reference to the tefillin shel rosh, the tefillin worn on the head. Thus, the ash goes in the same location as the tefillin.
Rav Schachter cited someone once in shiur that this is a proof (among a few others) that early Christians followed some Sadducee beliefs, in terms of rejecting the Oral Law. After all, they put the ash not where we put our tefillin, but lower, on the forehead, where the Sadducees put their tefillin.
Why specifically in the place of the tefillin? As we read on the next page, Taanit 16a,
And where do you place it?
Rabbi Yitzchak says: in the place of tefillin
As it states in Yeshaya 61:3: To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them glory in place of ashes. Or, as the JPS translation likes to say:
Now, elsewhere, we associate פְּאֵר with tefillin - the bracha we say in the morning of Oter Yisrael BiTifara - "Who crowns Israel with glory" is a reference to the tefillin shel rosh, the tefillin worn on the head. Thus, the ash goes in the same location as the tefillin.
Rav Schachter cited someone once in shiur that this is a proof (among a few others) that early Christians followed some Sadducee beliefs, in terms of rejecting the Oral Law. After all, they put the ash not where we put our tefillin, but lower, on the forehead, where the Sadducees put their tefillin.
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