The Ketubbah: What It Reveals About Jewish Life Through the Ages

The Ketubbah: What It Reveals About Jewish Life Through the Ages 

An Online Course with Dr. Stefanie Siegmund 

Four Thursdays: April 20, 27; May 4, 11
7:30–8:45 p.m. ET   
Online

How and when did the ketubbah evolve from a legal marriage contract to a meaningful work of art? And what can we learn about Jewish social customs and economic relations by tracing this journey?  

Our study of the ketubbah will lead us from papyrus to parchment to print. We will see how details and variants in the texts reveal a medieval Jewish culture that grappled with slavery, abandonment, and spousal abuse; with the protection of women in divorce and widowhood; and with the preservation of intergenerational wealth. We will explore the emergence of the colorful decorative schemes of ketubbot in early modern Italy and encounter motifs and symbols used in different regions.  

The course will feature important examples from ketubbot in the JTS Library collection. It concludes with a (voluntary) research project, where participants will have the opportunity to utilize a comprehensive visual database of ketubbot to explore a marriage contract preserved in their own or family member’s personal archives.  

Local residents can also sign up for an in-person tour of the ketubbot in the JTS Special Collections.   

Cost: $120 for four sessions 

Dr. Stefanie Siegmund is associate professor of Jewish History and Gender Studies; Women’s League chair in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies; coordinator, Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Studies at JTS.