Signatures on the ketubah

Hi,

The ketubah document records testimony as to the marriage transaction between husband and wife, and is signed by the witnesses. There is no need for husband and wife to sign.

Historically, there were communities in which the husband signed, to confirm that his financial obligations recorded therein would be collectible in court without further procedural validation of the ketubah.

The husband and/or wife may sign on the document if they wish, but the format must make clear that they are not signing as witnesses, and that the witnesses are signing to the body of the document and not simply validating their signatures.

(Nachalat Shivah 12:73)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

k'dat Moshe v'Yisrael

Hi,

When a man and woman wed, the man says to the woman that he wishes to marry her, "k'dat Moshe v'Yisrael," "according to the laws of Moses and Israel." We also include this language in the ketubah.

Some explain that this clause adds her obligations; the ketubah records the man's obligations to his wife, and this clause notes that those obligations depend upon her own compliance with the laws of Moshe and Yisrael.

Others suggest that this clause defines the acceptable modes of completing the marriage transaction. The man is declaring that he wishes to wed her, using transactions provided for in the laws of Moshe and Yisrael.

(Nachalat Shivah 12:18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Placement of the witnesses' signatures

Hi,

We are careful not to leave too much blank space between the body of the ketubah and the signatures of the witnesses below, lest someone cut off the ketubah and insert other text above the signatures of the witnesses.

We avoid having a space sufficient for two written lines and three interstices.

(Nachalat Shivah 2:1-3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Ketubah for a person whose name has been changed

Hi,

Because of the need for a husband and wife to have a valid ketubah, authorities rule that if the halachic name of a married person is changed, such as during a serious illness, then a corrected ketubah should be written.

(Minchat Yitzchak 10:132)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Dating a Ketubah on Rosh Chodesh

Hi,

A Ketubah written on the first day of the month should be dated באחד לחדש. On the thirtieth of the month, it should be dated [using Nisan as an example] as ביום שלשים לחדש ניסן שהוא ראש חדש אייר.

Technically, "Rosh Chodesh" does not appear in the Torah as a date, but it is an accepted colloquialism.

(Mordechai Gittin 454; Rama Even haEzer 126:4 and 126:6; Nachlat Shivah 6:2; Aruch haShulchan Even haEzer 126:22)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Listing days of the week in a ketubah

Hi,

When we put dates in a legal document, like a ketubah, we spell the day of the week using the numbers listed in Bereishit, and the spelling used there. For example, we write חמישי with two yuds.

In Bereishit, the first day of the week is called יום אחד, Day One, rather than יום ראשון, First Day. This is odd, given that the rest of the numbers are ordinal [שני, שלישי, רביעי, second, third, fourth] rather than cardinal [שנים, שלש, ארבע, two, three, four].

For a legal document we also use the cardinal number of יום אחד, because that's the Torah's language.

(Nachalat Shivah 5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Margins

Hi,

Legal documents should not have large margins, lest this enable inappropriate additions to the document after the witnesses have signed. However, one might justify having margins which are large in order to protect the text when the document is handled.

(Nachlat Shivah 3:14)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The end of the line

Hi,

One should be careful, when writing a legal document, to ensure that the last word of the line is not one which could have its meaning altered with the addition of a letter or two. For example, the word עשר ["ten"] should not conclude a line, lest someone make it עשרים ["twenty"].

(Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 42:4; Nachlat Shivah 3:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Writing a shtar [legal document]

Hi,

One should be careful in writing a ketubah, or any other legal document, to use a uniform font and uniform spacing. This ensures that any alteration of the text will be noticeable.

(Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 42:3; Nachlat Shivah 3:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai