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Tag: halachah

Ketubot have a long history

Ketubot have a long history

An illustrated ketubah from Mala, India, 1938. (image from Deborah Rubin Fields)

Mazal tov! So, you or someone you know is getting married. Today, Jewish weddings may be big or small, formal or informal, traditional or not. No matter the style, the ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract, is the common denominator.

The ketubah is a short, but ancient document. In his book The Ketuba: Jewish Marriage Contracts through the Ages, David Davidovitch writes: “It may be assumed that … the ketubah was first introduced at the time of the Babylonian exile.” The ketubah “testifies to the obligations undertaken by the husband towards his wife in their joint life together. The principal function of the ketuba is … to serve as a document that safeguards the position of the woman after she has entered the marital state.”

In a traditional ketubah, the groom obligates himself to pay a base amount, and perhaps additional sums that are then written into the contract. He vows to work, honour, feed and support the bride. In added phrasing, he specifically agrees to provide clothing, food (thus providing food is mentioned twice in a traditional Orthodox ketubah) and conjugal rights. The groom’s spelled-out duties are the key to the contract. The wife’s responsibilities are not spelled out, yet details of her dowry are given.

The ketubah was written in Aramaic, for many years considered the legal language of Jewish texts, records and reports, plus the lingua franca of the Middle East. Even today, many Orthodox couples continue to use the Aramaic version. As a legal document, the ketubah requires witnessing by two individuals.

image - The ketubah of the writer’s maternal grandparents, from Warsaw, Poland, 1913
The ketubah of the writer’s maternal grandparents, from Warsaw, Poland, 1913. (image from Deborah Rubin Fields)

That Jewish couples have used ketubot since ancient times does not mean, however, that all ketubot are the same. They have differed from place to place and from period to period. Probably the most blatant difference in ketubot is that some have been illustrated while some have not. According to Davidovitch, the Italian Jewish community produced the most beautiful documents. In illustrated ketubot, common motifs have included scenes from the Torah, cherubim, flowers, birds (sometimes exotic), fish (as signs of anticipated fertility), candelabra or menorot, gates, arches, columns and even emblems of particular countries. It is hard to say with certainty if, historically, unillustrated ketubot reflected the conservative nature of various Jewish communities or if only the rich could afford artists to decorate the contract.

Sometimes, these dissimilarities appeared within one country. For instance, between the 18th and 20th centuries, the ketubot of the Indian Jewish communities consisted of two distinct sections – the opening formula, or superscription, in the upper register and the contract itself beneath. The superscription was written in square Hebrew characters, whereas the contract itself was penned in a semi-cursive Hebrew script. The superscription began with an invocation to G-d, followed by blessings and good wishes to the newlyweds and ended with biblical verses relating to marriage and fertility. Yet, within various Indian communities, there were differences: for example, while a ketubah from Kolkata (Calcutta) was illustrated, a ketubah from Pune was not.

According to Prof. Shalom Sabar, “printed Jerusalem ketubot made their way to many countries in the east, and indirectly led to the decline of the tradition of written ketubot and hand-made illustrations. The printed ketubah (with or without decorations) slowly took the place of the hand-made ketubah throughout almost the entire Jewish world, and the ancient artistic tradition died…. During the 1970s, the decorated ketubah and motifs connected to Jerusalem [were] revived. In an era where many people were ‘searching for their roots’ and acquired a renewed interest in Jewish art in its various forms, many couples began ordering hand-decorated ketubot for their weddings.” (See the National Library of Israel, web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/jewish-collection/ketubbot/ketexhibit/Pages/Yemen-1925.aspx.)

Today, some couples opt to write their ketubah using egalitarian language. Their vows might reflect their responsibilities to each other, as well as responsibilities to the Jewish people and to the entire world. One example of this is the ketubah devised by Rabbi Prof. Rachel Adler. Her ketubah is called a Lovers’ Covenant. It contains biblical verses about covenant, calling marriage a covenant of distinction. Other couples focus on specific vows to be carried out in their shared life.

Other examples of changing times are ketubot for interfaith couples and for same-sex couples. Regarding same-sex couples, Lynda Fishman of Jessy Judaica Shop reports that “most couples choose a ketubah first and read through the text that is offered by the artist. Most couples prefer the same-sex text, although not all artist[s] offer a same-sex text … most do offer an egalitarian text, which can be gender-neutral.” Fishman always requests the couple “speak to their rabbi/officiant first before ordering. It’s very important for the officiant to approve the text first or to let us know if they would like any changes made.”

Masorti (Conservative) Rabbi Diana Villa and the late Rabbi Monique Susskind Goldberg worked extensively to try and prevent the problem of mesoravot get, Jewish women whose husbands have refused to grant a get, or Jewish writ of divorce; this situation occurs more in Israel than in other Jewish communities. In a detailed paper on the issue, they urged couples to sign a prenuptial agreement.

For those living in Israel, they further recommend using their Agreement for Mutual Respect. “The principle guiding financial agreement is that the husband guarantees at the time of the wedding to pay his wife a large sum of money in the future should she want a divorce and should he refuse to give her a get, even though their life together has ended. The purpose of the agreement is to have the husband give the get quickly in order to be rid of the heavy debt.”(See To Learn and to Teach [2007], the fourth booklet of a series published by the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies).

While prenuptial agreements are less common in the Orthodox world, the Orthodox organization Chupa Pratit requires couples to sign a halachic (according to Jewish law) prenup stipulating financial sanctions if one partner refuses to consent to a divorce, to prevent incidents of “chained” women, or men. (See chuppot.org.il/en.)

The National Library of Israel has an online collection of more than 4,200 ketubot from collections all over the world. Whatever direction you decide to go in when choosing yours, good luck with your preparations. And may your shared life be as hearty and as long-lived as the ketubah itself.

Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams, published in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Format ImagePosted on February 28, 2020February 26, 2020Author Deborah Rubin FieldsCategories LifeTags halachah, history, Judaism, ketubah, marriage, weddings

Increasing organ donations

Leading up to the provincial election in Manitoba in April, activists, family members of organ recipients and those waiting for organs pushed the topic of organ donation as an election issue. They reached out to many prominent people to help them spread their message, including Prof. Arthur Schafer, founding director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba.

The centre’s purpose is to promote research specifically in applied ethics across different professions, such as medicine, engineering, pharmacy and nursing. Schafer further described it as “ethics as it applies to controversial, moral, social and political issues in society.”

Organ donation, while supported by most segments of the population, has been an issue with which many countries struggle. As there is most often a gap between supply and demand, some countries are coming up with new ways to tackle the problem.

photo - Prof. Arthur Schafer
University of Manitoba’s Prof. Arthur Schafer. (photo from Arthur Schafer)

“Israel used to have just about the lowest organ donation rate of all the Western countries,” said Schafer. “So, historically, and rather embarrassingly, more people died waiting for an organ donation in Israel than anywhere else.”

According to Schafer, the lack stemmed from the common misconception that Jewish law prohibits organ donation.

“But, the very low donation rate in Israel changed after a new law was passed in 2008,” he said. “The new law gave priority [to certain people]. It was still true, after the new law was passed, that medical need was the most important criteria. Someone faced with imminent death would have priority over someone whose need was less urgent but, when patients had comparable need, the 2008 law gave priority to those who’d signed an organ donor card or whose family had donated an organ.”

The policy was nicknamed, “Don’t Give. Don’t Get.” Schafer said what this meant was that, if someone, for religious or other reasons, would not sign an organ donor card, they might end up dying themselves as a result of having a lower priority on the list of waiting patients.

“I suppose it’s the dual moral justification … first of all, a principle of justice or fairness,” said Schafer. “If you aren’t willing to give, you don’t deserve, you could argue, it’s not fair for you to take when you’re not willing to donate.

“Then, there’s also the principle of maximizing benefit, because this law seems to have resulted in saving many lives – which, according to Jewish law, is supposed to be of the highest priority. Jewish law says that saving a life is more important than anything else. Yet, many Orthodox Jews refuse to sign an organ donor card.”

Schafer said that, while the supply gap in Israel is still significant, it has narrowed dramatically since the passage of this new law.

Meanwhile, in Canada and its provinces, there is no priority given at present to those who sign an organ donor card.

As for the current local situation, the Province of Manitoba has passed a law – called Required Consideration – that requires physicians to consider whether someone dying or near death is a suitable candidate for organ donation, and to ask them or the family about donating.

Other provinces, like Ontario and British Columbia, have taken it a step further, passing a law known as Required Request. Doctors must discuss organ donation with dying patients. In both of these provinces, doctors can take themselves out of the process by alerting an organ donation coordinator to the situation.

“Many physicians are quite squeamish about the topic, by the way, especially when a younger person has died tragically in a car accident,” said Schafer. “Their organs might be a potential source of numerous healthy organs that could save lives but doctors feel, due to the severe family grief resulting from the death of a young person, that they don’t want to add to the burden by asking for an organ donation. That’s a fairly understandable reaction. But, I think it’s profoundly wrong. I think that, if your child has died in an accident or suffered from an untimely death, the family might welcome the opportunity to make something morally significant by agreeing to have other lives saved through organ donation. I think many people actually feel this way and that doctors who are reluctant to ask the families about it are depriving them of an opportunity.”

Schafer went on to say that, in many provinces, there is a big push to change the system of organ donation so that it would be a choice of opting out as opposed to one of opting in. The current situation is that, if you do not tick the box or tell your family you want to donate, your organs will not be harvested. Schafer contends that reversing the onus is a good option, as it still gives individuals a choice, but they have to choose not to do it rather than to do it.

“Many European countries have adopted opting-out systems, such as Spain,” he said. “Their donation rates have gone up considerably.”

Another option Schafer suggested is to tweak the compensation system for doctors, giving them further incentive to talk to people about organ donation when there is not the option of referring the matter to an organ coordinator.

“Many people die in community hospitals, nursing homes or in their own homes,” he said. “The family doctor, rural doctor or community hospital doctors are often unwilling to take the time filling out the forms to arrange for organ donation. I think the medical profession itself has been a big impediment to an increase in cadaveric organ donation.

“If you’re in a teaching hospital where transplant operations are occurring, you’re more likely to approach the family or individual and arrange organ donation,” he continued. “If you’re in a community hospital, it takes time. You have to fill out forms, you have to speak to people, and you’re not reimbursed. I think part of the solution to the dramatic gap between the supply and demand for organs requires a change in the medical profession itself or making it a requirement for doctors.”

The possible downside to a change in the compensation system for doctors, however, is to ensure that they still do all they can to save a patient.

For information on becoming an organ donor in British Columbia, visit transplant.bc.ca/be-donor.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Posted on May 6, 2016May 5, 2016Author Rebeca KuropatwaCategories WorldTags Canada, halachah, Israel, Jewish law, organ donation, transplant
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