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When discussing Rechele and Itche Mates's failure to consummate their marriage, the ladies of the town use this phrase:

When the seventh day of the Seven Days of the Marriage Feast was passed, Rechele was still a virgin. Young women who spoke of it in the shops pitied Rechele who, they said, had had "her head cut off with no knife."
Satan in Goray, part 2, chapter 2: "The Seven Days of Benediction" (translated by Jacob Sloan)

What does this phrase "head cut off with no knife" have to do with their lack of intercourse? Where does this saying come from?

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    As an educated guess, she has all the inconvenience of being married (the "beheading" in the metaphor) without ever experiencing the main event, because the implement to do the deed was missing or not in working condition.
    – Eike Pierstorff
    Feb 28, 2022 at 16:19

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