Ketubah

[2] It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride.

[3] According to the Babylonian Talmud, the ketubah was enacted by Simeon ben Shetach[4] so that it might not be a light thing for a man to divorce his wife.

[5] The enactment provides for a man's wife to receive a fixed sum of money, usually accruing from his property, in the event of his divorcing her or of his predeceasing her.

Sefer ha-Chinuch suggests a different reason: "...the Torah has commanded us to perform an act before taking a wife, a matter that is intended to show that they are a couple united in wedlock before he lies down with her carnally, and that he not come upon her as one would do to a harlot, where there is no other act that precedes what goes on between them..."[6] The rabbis in ancient times insisted on the marriage couple entering into the ketubah as a protection for the wife.

[7] The ketubah served as a contract, whereby the amount due to the wife (the bride-price) came to be paid in the event of the cessation of marriage, either by the death of the husband or divorce.

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.

Both the mohar and the ketubah amounts served the same purpose: the protection for the wife should her support by her husband (either by death or divorce) cease.

[11] Monies pledged in a woman's ketubah can be written in local currencies, but must have the transactional market-value of the aforementioned weight in silver.

In Ashkenazi tradition, the custom is to consolidate these different financial obligations, or pledges, into one single, aggregate sum.

[13] They date between the 6th and 19th centuries and, whilst many consist of plain text, there are examples that use decorative devices such as micrography[14] and illumination[15] to elaborate them.

The Jewish husband takes upon himself in the ketubah the obligation that he will provide to his wife three major things: clothing, food and conjugal relations,[16] and also that he will pay her a pre-specified amount of cash in the case of a divorce.

(Conservative Jews often include an additional paragraph, called the Lieberman clause, which stipulates that divorce will be adjudicated by a modern rabbinical court (a beth din) in order to prevent the creation of a chained wife.)

[18] The Chief Rabbinate in Israel has sought to bring uniformity to the ketubah, particularly where Jewish communities in the Diaspora had upheld conflicting traditions.

"[20] A woman who denied coitus unto her husband, a condition of the ketubah, was considered legal grounds for forfeiture of her marriage contract, with the principal and additional jointure being written off.

This was done to alleviate the concerns of soldiers who were going to war and wanted to ensure their wives' well-being in their capture or demise.