Rosh Yeshiva Responds
Rabbi Linzer answers halakhic questions from rabbis and community members

2 05, 2023

Missing Yud in Ketubah

May 2nd, 2023|Kiddushin and Ketubah, Lifecycles|

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Ketubah_from_Greece.jpg

QUESTION

Illinois

Someone ordered a ketubah and it’s been printed but the wedding has not happened yet. They spelled the chatan’s mother’s name wrong (missing a yud in Shaindel). Is it necessary to change the ketubah?

ANSWER

It’s fine. Remember that a ketubah is, fundamentally, a civil contract (required by halakha)—when there are questions such as these they are assessed based on the rules of Choshen Mishpat contracts, not by some ritual considerations. Thus—the need for names is purely about accurate identification. In principle, it could say the “the chatan-SSN 123-45-6789 said to the

15 02, 2023

Chatan with Non-Jewish Father and Other Descriptors in the Ketubah

February 15th, 2023|Even HaEzer, Geirut and Geirim, Kiddushin and Ketubah, Marriage and Family|

QUESTION

New York

I have a few questions regarding how to fill in the ketubah in an unusual situation.

1. The couple in question is already married with children. The bride is converting, so her name will be written in the ketubah as “Hadassah (her chosen name) bat Avraham V’Sara“. The groom is the son of a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man, in which case the RCA madrich