PETER S. KNOBEL

The ketubah has been replaced by a marriage certificate or by an egalitarian document that eliminates most if not all the hala­khic language. The text of a traditional ketubah is primarily an economic document that stipulates a man’s obligation to his wife during the marriage and in case he dies or divorces her. The docu­ment is not mutual and is rarely used in Reform weddings. In fact, ethically, it ought not be used.

As will be clear from even a cursory reading of the text below, the traditional ketubah is a one-sided document that deals with economic rights of women, who must be protected from the disproportional power of men in patriarchal marriage. Although some will argue that the ketubah represents an improvement in the status of women, Judith Hauptman points out that the main change that takes place between the biblical and the rabbinic view of marriage is“from the purchase of a woman from her father to a kind of‘social contract’ entered into by a man and a woman, albeit with him dominant and her subordinate. The critical difference between her old status in marriage as chattellike and her new status as‘second-class citizen’ is that she acquired, in exchange for sexual and other service to her husband, a wider array of rights and protections.”*?

On the day of the week the day of the[Hebrew ] month of the year after the creation of the world, according to the manner in which we count here in the community of, the bridegroom, son of, said to this virgin, daughter of, Be my wife according to the law of Moses and Israel and I will work, honor, feed and support you in the custom of Jewish men who work, honor, feed and support their wives faithfully. I will give the settlement of virgins, two hundred silver zuzzim, which is due you according to Torah law, as well as your food, clothing,

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