Ketubah - Marriage Contract

The ketubah is a marriage contract, and having one is one of the requirements for having a Jewish wedding.  Historically, the ketubah contained among other things the settlement on the wife of a certain amount payable at her husband's death or on her being divorced. According to various sources, this institution was established by the Rabbis partly to protect women by putting a check on the freedom of divorce, as traditionally the decision to divorce was solely and entirely up to men.  With a Ketubah, a woman could be assured that she would not be left impoverished in case she was widowed or left by her husband. 

Just for fun, let me add that the minimum amount payable under a ketubah was 200 zuz (a zuz = about 15 cents) for virgins, and 100 zuz for women who were not virgins at marriage.  The amount could be increased by the husband and mentioned either in the ketubah itself or in a special deed.

Besides these items, the ketubah mentioned also the amount of the dowry and the addition thereto made by the husband (the custom at present is to add 100 per cent to the amount of the dowry), as well as the ordinary obligations of a husband to his wife.

Today, the ketubah remains an important part of the Jewish marriage for Reform Jews (such as Claudia and Sam), albeit in a very different form.  Many ketubot today are produced as works of art; Sam and Claudia will have theirs framed and it will be exhibited in their house.  The language of the ketubah has also changed; Sam and Claudia have chosen an egalitarian text in both modern Hebrew and English (see text). 

Claudia and Sam are using a ketubah (see picture) made by artist Robert Saslow.