Jewish Traditions and Words
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Marriage
In early Judaism there were three ways a couple could get married. The first was “espousal by cohabitation,” or living together, and examples of this can be seen in the book of Genesis. The second was the gift of a document written by the husband and received by the woman of her own free will. This document had the phrase “Thou art hallowed unto me” or “Thou art my wife and I am thy husband for ever” written upon it. The third was espousal by silver or money, that is, an object of value. Today these three methods are interwoven and incorporated into the Jewish marriage ceremony.
Marriage is considered extremely important in Judaism because it provides both the husband and wife with companionship and joy. However it is recognized that sometimes a marriage does not work. For this reason Judaism allows for divorce under a number of circumstances.
Under Talumudic law a man could divorce his wife against her will by simply forcing her out of the house. However, under Rabbenu Gershom (11th century AD) both this form of divorce and polygamy were outlawed. Today a wife’s consent is required for a divorce to take place, and it is possible for her to initiate the divorce process. A religious divorce is only completed when the husband gives his wife a get or document of divorce, which can only be written by a scribe.
Women
The position of a woman in traditional Judaism was ambiguous. While women were expected to follow Jewish belief, ethical obligations, and criminal law, they were exempt from certain aspects of religious law such as precepts that had to be performed at a specific time. Furthermore, women were not required to study the Torah (first five books of the Jewish Bible), and in fact they were often discouraged from study.
One of the explanations for why women were exempt from these obligations is that a woman’s primary obligation was to her family. According to the Torah, a woman is placed under the protection of a man (either her father or her husband) and is consequently under his control.
Over time the traditional view of not educating women in the ways of Jewish thought changed. In the early twentieth century the first schools to educate girls in Judaism were created in Poland. Today there are colleges where women can study the Torah, the Talmud (commentary on the Jewish Bible), and Jewish philosophy.
Writing and Art
Eileen Brautman's ketubot embed carefully constructed words within beautiful, ornate cut-paper forms. The words are a marriage contract, but contracts are more than just business agreements. Words themselves have creative power, in traditional Judaism. The word "davar" in Hebrew refers to both words and things. Words are not just abstractions or names, but they have substance. Abraham J. Heschel puts it this way: "We shall never be able to understand that the spirit is revealed in the form of words unless we discover the vital truth that speech has power,that words are commitments." (Man's Quest for God, p. 25) And Rabbi Pinhas of Koretz said, "There are no words which, in themselves, are useless. There are no actions which, in themselves, are useless. But one can make useless both actions and words by saying or doing them uselessly." (Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim: Early Masters. New York: Schocken Books, 1947: 122.)
Eileen Brautman, in the care that she takes to produce the ketubot, ensures that words, and actions, are useful. The power of words becomes particularly clear in the event of a divorce. The rabbi cuts through the ketubah, thereby ending the marriage through symbolically destroying the power of the words.