From: Womens United Nations Report Network
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Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:07 AM
To: WUNRN_ListServe@LISTS.WUNRN.COM
Subject: Ketubah - Jewish Marriage Religious Contract
WUNRN
KETUBAH - The Contract That States
The Obligations Within Jewish Marriage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketubah
A ketubah
is a Jewish prenuptial agreement. It is considered an
integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage.
History
The rabbis
in ancient times insisted on the marriage couple entering into the ketubah
as a protection for the wife. It acted as a replacement of the biblical dower or bride price,
The ketubah became a mechanism whereby the amount due to the wife (the dower) came to be
paid in the event of the cessation of marriage, either by the death of the
husband or divorce. It may be noted that the biblical bride price
created a major social problem: many young prospective husbands could not raise
the bride price at the time when they would normally be expected to marry. So,
to enable these young men to marry, the rabbis, in effect, delayed the time
that the amount would be payable, when they would be more likely to have the
sum. The mechanism adopted was to provide for the bride price
to be a part of the ketubah. It may also be noted that both the dower
and the ketubah amounts served the same purpose: the protection for the
wife should her support (either by death or divorce) cease. The only difference
between the two systems was the timing of the payment. It is the predecessor to
the wife's present-day entitlement to maintenance in
the event of the breakup of marriage. Another function performed by the ketubah
amount was to provide a disincentive for the husband contemplating divorcing his wife: he would need to have
the amount to be able to pay to the wife.
Role in Wedding Ceremony
The ketubah
is not part of the Jewish marriage ceremony, however, the groom and
bride may not engage in marital relations, although the marriage has been
completed, unless two valid witnesses have signed a ketubah. At the
wedding the signed ketubah is handed to the bride, and it becomes her property,
and her guarantee that she will not be left with nothing should the marriage
dissolve or should her husband die.
Design and Language
Ketubot (the
plural for ketubah) have many different styles of language and designs, depending
on the beliefs and traditions of the couple. Traditionally, the language of the
ketubah formalises the various requirements by the Torah of a Jewish
husband vis à vis his wife (e.g. giving her adequate resources for
dress, sexual intercourse), and stipulates the sum to be paid by him in case of
divorce, which is 200 Zuz (a Talmudic currency) - generally considered
the sum to support oneself financially for a full year.
A
traditional ketubah is written in Aramaic. Conservative Jews often include an
additional paragraph, called the Lieberman
clause, which stipulates that divorce will be adjudicated by a modern
rabbinical court in order to prevent the problem of the agunah. Reform Jews
and interfaith
couples often opt for more egalitarian language, similar in tone to marriage
vows, which stress the values on which they base their relationship and
marriage (love, companionship, family, tradition, etc.). Many times a
traditional text will be accompanied by a more creative, poetic and egalitarian
rendition in English. Because there is a variety of available texts, betrothed
couples often consult their rabbi or wedding officiant in order to determine
which ketubah text is right for them.
A recent
flourishing of non-standard ketubah texts have provided more specialized
options for marrying couples, including those designed for same gender couples,
couples with only one Jewish partner, secular humanists, and other individually
crafted commitment texts.
After
Marriage
The ketubah
is one of the predominant forms of Jewish art, or judaica, found in
the home. Ketubot are often hung prominently in the home by the married couple
as a daily reminder of their vows and responsibilities to each other. Ketubot
have been made in a wide range of designs, usually following the tastes and
styles of the era and region in which they are made. Many couples follow the
Jewish tradition of hiddur mitzvah which calls for ceremonial objects such as
the ketubah to be made as beautiful as possible. They choose a design which
reflects both their artistic tastes and their feelings about marriage. Many
designs incorporate religious or secular symbolism, such as the Tree of Life, the Star of
David, Jerusalem,
or images from nature. According to Jewish law, a woman may not sleep with her
husband unless she knows the location of her ketubah; if the ketubah is lost
relations are suspened until it can be recreated.
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