This ketubahThe Jewish wedding contract. Traditionally, the ketubah protected the wife in marriage by spelling out the husband's obligations to her and guaranteeing her a financial settlement in case of divorce. Throughout the ages, ketubot (plural) have been illuminated and calligraphed, becoming significant as Jewish art. Today, all manner of egalitarian ketubot are written. Some dispense with the financial and legal aspects, focusing more on the emotional and spiritual sides of the relationship. Others maintain the rabbis' concern with the practical, but define mutual obligations for each spouse. was created by Lily Nagy-Deak and Lanni Solochek for our wedding. We looked at many ketubot and Jewish texts in the process of writing this document. We wanted it to reflect our values, our hopes for our marriage, and the agreements we are making to honor and uphold our relationship.
Hebrew is a gendered language, and in order to subvert the traditionally masculine grammar, we used feminine plural (instead of traditional masculine plural as the gender inclusive plural) along wtih Divine Feminine language. As genderqueer individuals, our religious language has often felt inaccessible to our identities, and so this document marks a moment in language, and we hope in the future queer couples have access to language that authentically represents them.
