THE KETUBAH

The Ketubah (the Jewish marriage contract) has become another feature of Jewish marriages. It lays out rights of the wife (to monetary payments upon termination of the marriage by death or divorce), and obligations of the husband (providing food, shelter, clothing, and sexual satisfaction to the wife).

The over-riding purpose of the ketubah is the protection of the wife in the event of her financial support ceasing as a result of divorce or the death of the economic breadwinner. The rabbis in ancient times used to prohibit the marriage of the woman "without the protection of the ketubah". The amount stipulated in the ketubah is a replacement of the biblical dower or bride price, which was payable at the time of the marriage by the groom to the bride or her parents. The ketubah became a mechanism whereby the amount due to the wife (the dower) came to be paid in the event of the cessation of marriage, either by the death of the husband or divorce.

It may be noted that the biblical bride price created a major social problem: many young prospective husbands could not raise the bride price at the time when they would normally be expected to marry. So, to enable these young men to marry, the rabbis, in effect, delayed the time that the amount would be payable, when they would be more likely to have the sum. The mechanism adopted was to provide for the bride price to be a part of the ketubah.

The ketubah amount served the same purpose as the dower: the protection for the wife should her support (either by death or divorce) cease. The only difference between the two systems was the timing of the payment. It is the predecessor to the wife's present-day entitlement to maintenance in the event of the breakup of marriage. Another function performed by the ketubah amount was to provide a disincentive for the husband contemplating divorcing his wife: he would need to have the amount to be able to pay to the wife.