Aside from updating the kitchen, have you considered giving your Ketubah a facelift? Authored by the Sanhedrin and Talmudic Rabbis, the Ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract, is a traditional, time-honored document of some 2,500 years’ standing. It proscribes, in very precise terms, the responsibilities of husband to wife with specific provisions for the wife’s financial security, property and status should the husband die or if the couple divorces. However, aside from its legal value the Ketubah has evolved into one of the most exquisitely embellished documents that you might want to display in your newly upgraded home.

Historian author Michael Shapiro has written a gorgeous ‘coffee table’ book titled, Ketubah Renaissance. He describes the colorful and remarkable history of the Ketubah’s development from ancient, basic, hand-written forms on papyrus, to elaborately decorated illustrations on parchment and to contemporary laser-produced examples. The traditional Ketubah text is in Aramaic (although some today are in Hebrew or English) and is typically framed by colorful artwork following the spiritually uplifting tradition of ‘hiddur mitzvah’- “beautifying objects used to fulfill the commandments.” Talented artists, including giants such as Marc Chagall and Ben Shahn have exhibited superb expressions of Jewish symbolism---flora, fauna and Jerusalem cityscapes-- framing the written text. Shapiro displays 60 colored examples of beautifully decorated Ketubot that demonstrate the extraordinary talent of past and contemporary artists continuing the tradition of celebrating life.

Originally a simple legal document expressing in rich terms a Jewish couples’ love and commitment to one another, how did this artistic enhancement begin? Although 10th and 12th century examples of Israeli and Egyptian Ketubot had artistic content, it was the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492 that energized the exotic artistic tradition. Emigrating Jews who had lived in Arab countries and Spain for centuries brought with them the flowing styles and forms of Islamic expression in contracts, carpets and geometric motifs, which they quickly and imaginatively expressed in Ketubot. Seventeenth century Italy witnessed the zenith of this development in busy commercial cities of Venice, Mantua and Ancona. There, trade, commerce and financing, conducted by Jewish businessmen, brought wealth into their communities. Weddings between rich families were arranged. The Ketubah business flourished. There have been some downturns in the adoption of Ketubot over the years, especially after the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. Happily, these days are over and Ketubot, in their several forms, are back in wide usage including those for interfaith or LGBTQ couples.

Curiously, Ketubot differ in one important aspect from secular contracts: --- the wedding participants do not sign it – only two witnesses do so, and of course they sign after having heard the kallah (bride), and chatan (groom), agree orally to the Ketubah’s conditions. The blending of innovative art with traditional text, “enables contemporary couples to express Jewish traditions on their own terms” as they publicly declare their commitment to one another. How nice is that?