Ketubot 11a
Love and reality make for a good marriage. The wedding ceremony celebrates the beauty of love. The ketubah addresses the reality of life. It tells us how to sustain an existing marriage. It also tells us how to deal with a terminated marriage. All marriages end: Some die by themselves, whereas others die with the death of a spouse.
The ketubah that is read under the wedding canopy —the chuppah — focuses on the obligations of the husband during the marriage. In order to preserve the happiness of the moment, the obligations of the husband to his divorcee or to his widow are not included in the ketubah document that is recited under the chuppah. Neither are the obligations of the wife toward the husband included in that document. Yet, these obligations form part of the ketubah. They are incorporated by reference from rabbinical legislation.
When a man marries a woman, the ketubah imposes upon him 10 obligations and entitles him to four benefits.
The 10 obligations are as follows: (i) to provide she’er or mezonot — food, for his wife and small children; (ii) to provide kesut — clothing, ornaments and furnished lodging; (iii) to engage in regular conjugal relations — onah; (iv) to pay his wife a lump sum that is stipulated in the written ketubah in lieu of support in the event of a divorce; this lump sum is known as “Ikar Ketubah;” (v) to pay for his wife’s medical expenses; (vi) to pay ransom money to free his wife from captivity; (vii) to pay for her funeral and burial expenses; (viii) after the husband’s death to have his estate pay for his widow’s food, clothing and furnished lodging expenses until the widow sues for the lump sum payment of substantially all of her ketubah money in court or until she remarries; (ix) after the husband’s death to allow the widow the right to continue living in her deceased husband’s house until she remarries; (x) after the husband’s death to have his estate pay for the food and furnished lodging expenses of his young unmarried daughters.
In Talmudic times, in the event that the husband, Yaakov, had more than one wife and he died after their death, he was obliged to have the sons of each wife inherit the specific amount of money written into each wife’s ketubah before inheriting the remainder of his estate. Thus, if Rachel’s ketubah amount was $1,500 and Leah’s ketubah amount was $1,000, Yosef, the son of Rachel, would inherit $1,500, and Reuven, the son of Leah would inherit $1,000 and then, Yosef and Reuven would share, equally, in the remainder of Yaakov’s estate.
The four benefits to which the husband is entitled to under the ketubah are as follows: (i) in return for providing his wife and small children with mezonot and in order to maintain peace in the house, the husband is entitled to any earnings his wife generates during the course of the marriage — “Ma’aseh Yadehah;” the wife may elect to keep her earnings provided she waives her right to mezonot; the husband may not make this election for his wife; (ii) any unclaimed lost property found by the wife — “Metziot,” belongs to the husband; (iii) in return for committing to ransom his wife if she is captured, the husband has the right to the income from property that the wife brings with her into the marriage — “Peirot Nechasehah;” (iv) in return for paying her funeral and burial expenses, the surviving husband inherits the property of his deceased wife.
The wife’s right to regular conjugal relations, her right to the Ikar Ketubah money and the husband’s right to inherit his wife are inalienable rights and cannot be waived (the Rosh is of the opinion, however, that the husband’s right to inherit his wife can be waived). All of the other obligations mentioned above can be waived in a prenuptial agreement.
One of the purposes of the ketubah money is to make it difficult for a husband to capriciously divorce his wife. This is achieved by the husband’s undertaking in the ketubah document to pay his wife a lump sum in the event of a divorce.
This lump sum is comprised of three parts: (i) the Ikar Ketubah in an amount of 200 zuz coins that were legal tender in Talmudic times (ii) the dowry amount — “Nichsei Tzon Barzel,” equals to the value of the property the wife brings into the marriage as assessed at that time and (iii) an additional amount — “Tosefet Ketubah,” that the husband adds to the Ikar Ketubah. This lump sum becomes payable in the event of a divorce.
In the event of the husband’s death, the widow has the option to sue for the payment of the lump sum or to continue to receive her mezonot periodically from the deceased husband’s estate. She cannot do both.
In Talmudic times, 200 zuz was a substantial amount of money. It distinguished the rich from the poor. The sages estimated that this sum was sufficient to pay for a person’s food and clothing for one year. With the passage of time and the eroding effects of inflation, the sum of 200 zuz ceased to be a deterrent to divorce.
Whereas Ashkenazi Jews in the Diaspora have made little attempt to adjust the ketubah amount for inflation, Sephardi Jews often insert substantial amounts into the ketubah. In one known instance, a groom of Sephardi origin inserted $150,000 as the ketubah amount. The Israeli Rabbinate inserts meaningful amounts into the ketubah.
To enforce his obligation in the ketubah, the husband mortgages all of his property as security for the payment of the ketubah amount. Accordingly, to satisfy the payment of the ketubah amount, the divorcee or widow may extract the husband’s property from any person who purchased the property from the husband after the date of the ketubah.
The obligations set forth in the ketubah set a floor — not a ceiling — to the marital obligations. A married couple can agree upon higher amounts and additional obligations, but they cannot be without a ketubah.
Raphael Grunfeld, a partner at the Wall Street law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, received semicha in Yoreh Yoreh from Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem of America and in Yadin Yadin from Harav Hagaon Dovid Feinstein, zt”l. This article is an extract from Raphael’s book “Ner Eyal: A Guide to Seder Nashim, Nezikin, Kodashim, Taharot and Zeraim” available for purchase at www.amazon.com/dp/057816731X or by emailing Raphael at: [email protected].
