Search results for: ""ketubah""

Ketuba Process
The ketuba is written before the wedding but is not finished until just before the signing, when one or a few last words are filled in.  The ketuba is signed by two kosher witnesses after tanayim.  
Note The ketuba is read later, under the chuppa.
Receiving the Ketuba
At a Jewish divorce, the ketuba is given back to the man or destroyed after he has paid the money he owes to his now-ex-wife, as written in the ketuba.
Safekeeping a Ketuba
A woman must keep her ketuba under her control, but it does not need to be with her or even be in her home. It may be kept with her parents or anywhere else safe. It should not be displayed in public. If she has definitely lost her ketuba (she cannot find it in any place where it should have been), she may not live with her husband unless she has another ketuba written.
 
Meaning of the Ketuba
The ketuba at a wedding is required and the husband obligates himself through the ketuba to support his wife. The ketuba may be the world's oldest document for women's rights!
 
Who May Write the Ketuba
The ketuba may be written by anyone, whether male or female, Jew or non-Jew.
Wedding Customs: Reading of the Ketuba
After the blessings on the wine have been said and the wine has been drunk, the ketuba is read. This separates the two sets of blessings.
Wedding Customs: Prenuptial Agreement
A prenuptial agreement is permitted but it must state that the ketuba gets settled separately.
Jewish Wedding: Witnesses: Four Pairs
A Jewish wedding requires four pairs of witnesses, but the same witnesses may be used for all four parts: tanayim; ketuba; kiddushin; yichud. Each witness must be:
  • A shomer-Shabbat, adult male,
  • Not related to the bride or groom,
  • Not related to each other, and
  • Known to be an honest person.
Note There is no requirement to have only people who were born into shomer-Shabbat families as witnesses.
Note For more on relatives as witnesses, see Witnesses: Relatives in Jewish Courts.
Financial Responsibility of Husband
The husband, not the wife, has the responsibility of financially supporting the family. This is the halacha and NOT an opinion! That the husband must support his family is explicitly stated in every ketuba.
Introduction to Weddings and Marriage
The purpose of the rabbi at a wedding is to ensure that the extremely detailed wedding halachot, as set out by the Shulchan Aruch, are followed correctly. If not, the wedding might not be kosher.
 
A Jewish marriage includes: a written document (ketuba); a financial transaction (ring) in front of two kosher witnesses; and physical intimacy. 
 
Witnesses
 
  • The witnesses must be shomer Shabbat Jewish men.
  • The bride and groom should confirm verbally that these are the two (and the only two) witnesses that they want.  
 
Ring
  • The groom must confirm that he acquired and owns the ring.
  • The groom must say Harei at mekudeshet li ...  to the bride and place the ring on her (index) finger.
 
Ketuba
  • The ketuba must be kosher.
  • Before the chuppa, someone (anyone, including women) must fill in (no safrut is required for this):  the Hebrew names of the bride and groom; the date the wedding is taking place; the wedding location (city, etc.); and that a kinyan was made.
  • The ketuba must be signed by two kosher witnesses.
Hidur Mitzva/Mehadrin
Almost all mitzvot may be enhanced by:
  • Making them beautiful (hidur mitzva), or
  • Observing non-required stringencies (mehadrin).
Hidur Mitzva
Examples
  • Women baking challa for Shabbat and Jewish festivals (and separating challa as a remembrance of the challa that was given to the priests/cohanim in the Temple).
  • Wearing especially nice clothes and eating special foods on Shabbat and Jewish festivals.
  • Using beautiful fragrances, tastes, textures, colors, and artistry in serving God.
Beautiful
Examples
  • Shabbat/Jewish festival table (set with beautiful challa cover, silver, kiddush cups).
  • Havdala set and pleasant-smelling spices for havdala.
  • Sukka and putting your finest things in it.
  • Etrog/etrog case.
  • Shofar.
  • Seder plate, matza holder, and matza cover.
  • Illuminated hagadas (hagadot) and megilas (megilot).
  • Chanuka candle-holder (menora, chanukiya).
  • Torah scroll written with a fine pen and beautiful script and wrapped in beautiful silks.
  • Mezuza covers.
  • Ketuba.
  • Wimple (to wrap baby in prior to brit mila; then donated to hold the two parts of the Torah together).
  • Elijah's Chair/Kisei Eliyahu.
  • Synagogues.
  • Chuppa.
Mehadrin
Examples
  • Chalav Yisrael--When consuming milk and milk products, eating or drinking only those items whose production was supervised by religious Jews;
  • Pat Yisrael—When eating bread, only eating bread baked by Jews (not necessarily by religious Jews);
  • Glatt meat—When eating meat, eating only meat that had no lesions on the animal's lungs;
  • Lighting more than one Chanuka candle each night (beginning on the 2nd night) and having more than one person in each house light their own candles.