Wedding Ketubah

The wedding ketubah is a long-established tradition, rooted in the legality of a Jewish marriage and originally designed with the bride’s protection in mind. The wedding ketubah laid out in detail the husband’s obligations, from providing food and clothing to marital relations: thereby guaranteeing his wife that he would satisfy basic human and financial provisions for the life of the marriage. 

Back in the Day

Historically, rabbis resolved to ensure protection for the wife through institutionalizing the wedding ketubah.  It replaced the biblical mohar – the required price a groom paid to the bride or her parents for the marriage.  The ketubah replaced the mohar as a contract by which the husband would pay the amount due to his wife, only if the marriage dissolved, whether by death or divorce.  You can see how the mohar created a bit of a problem for those with little to no money – not an uncommon occurrence back in the day, when many a young man was unable to raise the required funds.  To assist in getting these young guys married,the sages decided to implement a contract that would essentially delay this payment to a time when they would be more likely to actually have the required amount. Basically, the only distinguishable difference between a mohar and a ketubah is one was a cash-on-delivery kind of scenario, and the other was delayed and only required if the situation warranted it.

Nowadays 

In this day and age, there are a variety of options available to couples seeking a wedding ketubah;  from the traditional Orthodox, in Aramaic, detailing the original obligations,to a modern wedding ketubah, reflecting the couples love and commitment to one another on a 

personally meaningful level. The modern-day wedding ketubah can reflect everything from couples with a common Jewish religion and heritage, to celebrating a vital tradition of the Jewish partner in an interfaith wedding, or it may be a loving and memorable reminder of a couple’s devotion and bond to each other. The wedding ketubah can be a masterful work of art that can be proudly displayed anywhere in the home to remind a couple of their wedding day. Personalizing your wedding ketubah to reflect your lifestyle is totally doable at present. Getting a custom wedding ketubah to celebrate your marriage in a way that suits your personal tastes, spiritual aspirations and love to one another is something you can cherish for all the days of your marriage.

Take a look at Danny Azoulay’s beautiful array of ketubah artwork and texts, chose the one that best satisfies the demands of yours and your partners aspirations.