Obj. ID: 54802
Jewish printed books  Ketubah, Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno), 1875

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

A Ketubah (Hebrew: כְּתוּבָּה ; "written thing"; pl. Ketubot) is a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. The content of the Ketubah is in essence a one-way contract that formalizes the various requirements by Halacha (Jewish law) of a Jewish husband vis à vis his wife. The Jewish husband takes upon himself in the Ketubah the obligation that he will provide to his wife three major things: clothing, food and conjugal relations, and also that he will pay her a pre-specified amount of cash in the case of a divorce. Thus the content of the Ketubah essentially dictates security and protection for the woman, and her rights in the marriage.

This document is signed and then given to the bride as her property. In Italy and most of the Islamic countries in which Jews resided, such a Ketubah was often decorated, a tradition originating with the Jews in Spain. Today, generally, printed Ketubot are used.

This quite simply designed Ketubah was printed by the famous Romm printing firm in Vilnius.  It was used in the town of Widawa in Poland, demonstrating the wide distribution of the products of the Romm press.

During the nineteenth century, when the Jewish World Center of print moved to Eastern Europe, and the social place and function of women improved, there were 24 women active in Hebrew printing and publishing, 17 of whom were in Eastern Europe. A substantial number of printing houses came to be run by widows, the most famous of whom was the Widow (Dvoyre) Romm, who exerted substantial control over the great Lithuanian publishing house from 1860 until her death in 1903. In at least one case, a major Hebrew press, in Lwów, was founded and run from 1788 to 1805 by a woman, Yudis Rosanes, who came from the Żółkiew line of Uri Fayvesh ha-Levi.

Groom:                             Ya'akov ben Shraga

Bride:                                Freidel bat Shraga Fievel