Story of the Ketubah: Colorful
Addition to Chapter on Jewish Living

By DR. 'BLANCHE KATZEN

tract or Ketubah was intro-
duced in the 2nd century . B.C.E.
In the "Book of Tobit" written
before the destruction of the
Temple, we find one of the first
written marriage documents.
The reason for setting forth
a solemn written contract was
to give protection to the woman
so that she might be assured
that her husband would not be
allowed to treat her as a mere
handmaid or a purchased slave
whom he could dismiss at will.
The Ketubah is a solemn
pledge coupled with an oath
that all liabilities are put on

(Standard Feature Syndicate)

There is no evidence in the
Bible of the existence of a writ-
ten contract in connection with
marriage. The Bible describes
in detail the marriage of Isaac
to Rebecca, of Jacob, to Leah
first, and to Rachel afterwards,
but there was no written con-
tract.
The stay in the bitter exile of
Babylon had taught the Jews
the importance of drawing up
legal documents and so it came
about that. shortly after the end
of the exile, the marriage con-

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Greetings on the Holiday

Season's Greetings

20th Century
Jewelers

the man and only a moral on e
rests with the woman. Th e
Ketubah protects the woma n
even after her husband's deat h
and after he has divorced her
Should he divorce her or leav e
her a widow, part of the prop
erty returns to her.
This special document settin g
forth the obligations the hus
band took upon himself as re
gards his wife, contained the
names of the groom and the
bride and of their parents and
grandparents; it contained the
sum of money the bridegroom
gave to the bride as a gift.
The Ketubah sets forth eco-
nomic clauses to protect the
bride should the husband go on
a journey and not return and
should she not know whether
he was alive or whether she
had become a widow. In legal
terminology, she was then an
Agunah — unable to remarry,
powerless to claim the property,
exposed to cruel hardships. So
the Ketubah wisely provided a
clause to protect her in such a
case. This same clause also
stated' that the husband should
not venture on a journey with-
out the consent of his wife.
At the end of the document
were the signatures of the wit-
nesses who had to be men of
sustenance and enhanced char-
acter; sometimes, though not
necessarily, the groom added
his own name.
The Ketubah — A Work of
Elaborate Art
These ancient marriage docu
ments were elaborately hand-
written by - professional scribes
to convey the impression that
this contract was as much a gift
as a legal document. The most
beautiful old Ketubahs were
illuminated manuscripts and
written in Italy in the 17th and
18th centuries.
The beautiful Ketubah pic-
tured here is dated 1828 and
comes from Curacao, Dutch
Antilles. The Hebrew text is
surrounded by exquisite flower
ornaments and shows the pic-
tures of the groom and bride
and the graceful figure of
Charity with two children.
Ketubah means "What is
written." A papyrus of the 5th
century B.C.E. contains the old-
est extant Ketubah and em-
bodies legal formulas which re-
curr in the Talmud.

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BEAUTY SALON

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i George Springhart

Makes Them Better

Mr. Sam Rosenberg

Building and Real Estate

13904 WOODWARD
TO. 7-5006

3856 FORT, LINCOLN PARK

1

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WA. 8-2014

-

KETUBAH FROM CURACAO, DUTCH ANTILLES
Dated 1828

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Holiday Good Cheer

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WRIGHT

DANIELS
ELECTRIC SERVICE

REAL ESTATE
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Good Cheer on the
Holiday

Sincerest Best Wishes

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CLOTH CO.

Barnett Plumbing
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American Coffee House I

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New and Used
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PERSONAL SERVICE

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Rosh Hashanah. Greetings

Happy New Year to Our
Friends and Patrons

SAM AMALIO

Cement Contractor

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,
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Sincere Good Wishes

Season's Most
Cordial Greetings

DETROIT MILL
SUPPLY CO.

1909 EAST FERRY
WA. 2-5600

