With her latest book, “100 Jewish Brides: Stories from Around the World,” long-time Swampscott resident and author Barbara Vinick is taking readers on a journey through customs across six different continents, as she connects with brides and families from Madagascar to Afghanistan and everywhere in between.

Vinick has partnered up with Shulamit Reinharz, the Jacob S. Potofsky professor of sociology at Brandeis University, now for three books. Vinick, a long-time Swampscott resident, has taken a look into the diverse international Jewish communities and their marriage rituals. 

“I love it because it puts me in touch with people all around the world,” Vinick said. “I’ve learned a lot.”

“100 Jewish Brides” is a series of short essays by brides and their relatives. The book is divided into 14 sections, covering all aspects of Jewish weddings.

With help from Kulanu, a Hebrew word meaning “all of us” and an organization that supports isolated and emerging Jewish communities, Vinick gathered stories to be featured in the book.

“We partner to support isolated, emerging and returning Jewish communities all around the world in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America, places that you never would think have a population that’s interested in Judaism,” Vinick said.  “That put me in touch with places in the world where you wouldn’t necessarily think there would be a Jewish wedding.”

Through her work with Reinharz and as a research associate herself, Vinick also added the Brandeis supported the project.

“As well as if I met someone like in a synagogue or Jewish event and they had an unusual story, I would ask where your relatives or grandparents come from,” Vinick said. “If I had a country in mind, I would also just look it up online.”

People sent Vinick stories via email. She edited them and returned them to the writers for approval. For a few local cases, Vinick did interview people in person or over the phone. 

“I played a little game with myself to get in touch with someone from every country in the world,” Vinick said. “Of course this was impossible. It was challenging in some cases, which was great. I really enjoyed doing this. I kind of was sorry that it had to come to an end.”

“100 Jewish Brides” encapsulates over 80 countries and six continents.  

While Vinick didn’t go to all of the places, she was a part of one wedding “which was in a surprising place.” Vinick and her Kulanu group traveled to Madagascar to convert 121 people who had been studying Judaism for a couple of years and “were thrilled that Kulanu brought three rabbis.”

“Then there were people who took advantage of the rabbis being there and wanted to get married,” Vinick said. “They had married in a civil ceremony or Christian ceremony, and now, because there were rabbis there and because they had converted, they wanted to marry Jewishly.”

A dozen couples got married in the hotel that the Kulanu group was staying at in Madagascar. 

“It was very satisfying and thrilling,” Vincik said. “They did the traditional things for a traditional Jewish wedding.”

The couples used a bed sheet for the chuppah, or a wedding canopy that the couple stands under during a ceremony. There was fruit juice instead of wine, and a plastic glass was broken, which takes place after the ceremony to symbolize a variety of ideas including the fact that even in the most joyous occasions life and relationships need to be treated with care and respect.

Prior to “100 Jewish Brides,” Vinick edited stories about bat mitzvahs, the coming of age ritual of Jewish girls, as well as one about Purim, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving on the Jewish people from the officials of the Achaemenid Empire. The latter was given as a gift to members of Hadassah, an American Jewish women’s volunteer organization. 

“I found it so interesting and enriching to do it,” Vinick said. “Then it was like ‘let’s do a another project in a similar vein.’”

Vinick’s work traces key milestones in a Jewish woman’s life, from bat mitzvah to marriage. Next will potentially be a book about the naming ceremony for girls.

“We know what happens to boys eight days after they’re born,” Vinnick said, referring to the bris when a boy is circumcised. “It’s a lot murkier what around the world happens when girls are born.”

Vinick now has talked at various local libraries and events, as well as made appearances on Zoom “around the country and the world.”

In May, Vinick made a tour stop at the Swampscott Public Library.

“It seems like a great book for our community, and she has a lot of great photographs in her book as well,” said Dave Archer, reference librarian and adult programmer. “We’re happy to support her, especially as a local author, to showcase her at our library.”