Obj. ID: 55108
  Sacred and Ritual  Be-Siman Tov u-ve-Mazal Tov, Jerusalem, 1908

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.

Written in 1908, printed in blue, green and red.

This Ketubah was printed by Abraham Moses Luncz (December 9, 1854–1918) (Hebrew: אברהם לונץ), a Russian scholar and editor born at Kovno, Russia, who emigrated to Jerusalem at the age of 14.

He owned a Hebrew printing press in the Ezrat Yisrael neighborhood, across the street from his own home in Even Yisrael. From there he issued a number of works by Palestinian scholars, Estori Farḥi's Kaftor wa-Feraḥ and Josef Schwarz's Tebu'ot ha-Areẓ being the first works published. He also produced a travel guide to Israel. As of 1904, he had in press a new edition of the Jerusalem Talmud with commentary and introduction.

Luncz, who suffered from early blindness, founded, in conjunction with Dr. Koisewski, an institution for the blind at Jerusalem.

In the exploration of the Holy Land, Luncz has rendered great services from the historical, geographical, and physical standpoints, through his guide-books for Palestine, his Palestine annuals, and his Jerusalem almanac: Netibot Ẓiyyon we-Yerushalayim: Topography of Jerusalem and Its Surroundings (vol. i, 1876)

Jerusalem, Jahrbuch zur Beförderung einer Wissenschaftlich Genauen Kenntnis des Jetzigen und des Alten Palästina (Hebrew and German, 6 vols., 1881–1903, Hebrew: ירושלים, שנתון לידיעת ארץ ישראל)

Literarischer Palästina-Almanach (Hebrew; since 1894).

Bride:                                Leah ben Yehudah Akerchaman

Groom:                             Ben Tzion ben Yisrael Gul