Jerusalem – Having suffered through the trauma of towering infernos that consumed their homes and possessions, families who lost everything in the recent fires around around the country faced more bad news from rabbinic quarters.
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In the wake of the conflagrations, the municipal chief rabbi of Zichron Yaakov, who is also in charge of marriage licenses in Haifa, issued a statement saying that a man and wife whose marriage contract was burnt in the fires could not live under the same roof until a new contract had been drawn up.
The national chief rabbis quickly intervened however and ruled that any couple who had lost their ketubah in the fire could continue to live together, but should have a replacement marriage contract drawn up.
Jewish law states that a couple can only live together if they are in possession of a marriage contract, ketubah in Hebrew, and that living together without the document is forbidden and is even compared to concubinage.
The ketubah in Jewish law was designed to protect the rights of a woman in her marriage, and the sages of the Talmudic era therefore forbade a couple from living without one.
On Sunday. Chief Rabbi of Zichron Yaakov Rabbi Mordechai Abramovski pointed out in an interview with the haredi news website Kikar Shabbat that the entire contents of many people’s homes had been destroyed in the recent fires, and the prohibition against living together without a ketubah applied to them.
Abramovski, who has since 2011 been responsible for marriage licenses in Haifa, said that although Sephardi Jews could rely on the ruling of the late arbiter of Jewish law Rabbi Ovadia Yosef who said the prohibition in this instance was no longer applicable, no such dispensation has been made for Ashkenazi Jews and that Ashkenazi couples need a new ketubah drawn up before they can live together again.
However, Chief Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau issued a statement on Monday saying that it is permitted for couples to continue living together even if their ketubah had been burnt, since local rabbinates maintain copies of ketubot for weddings performed in their jurisdictions.
The chief rabbis added however that a replacement ketubah, known as a Ketubah D’Irketa, should be obtained by the couples who lost their original in the fires.
If there is a concern that a couple’s local rabbinate does not hold a copy of their ketubah, the chief rabbis said such a couple should seek to have a replacement ketubah drawn up as soon as possible.
Rabbi Moshe Shternboch, the deputy president of the rabbinical court of the radical Edah Haredit communal organization, said, however, that the copies in the local rabbinates are not sufficient and that the “act of acquisition,” which in a wedding is the giving of a ring by the groom to the bride, should be performed in front of two witnesses.
Until this is done, a couple is prohibited from living together, Shternboch ruled.
Totally absurd
Yet another example of halacha being twisted beyond its original meaning and intent by a culture that always restricts but never removes customs that are no longer relevant. Today’s Judaism bears little resemblance to that of our ancestors – it is more restrictive and less reasonable. No wonder the majority of Yidden want nothing to do with halacha – they see rulings like this and want no part of such offensiveness.
Here come the Gedolim, who never pass up a chance to make life difficult for Jews. All in the name of Avodas HaShem and diduk b’mitzvos.
Perhaps they should have come to Haifa and written ketubot so they do not further disrupt the lives of people who have just been through such trauma.
Imagine, you come back to your town after the fire, and now you need separate quarters????? The chief Rabbis have the right idea.
how about a more important husband/wife shayla: Should a husband, withholding a get from his wife, be permitted to daven in a shul???
as much as our hearts , kavanos & emotions are essential to our avodas hahsem , this religion is also very technical and details make all the difference. lighting shabbat candles a minute before sundown is a beautiful mitzvah, a minute after chas veshalom …, so is krias shma,chometz, etc..
the halacha states that you need to know where your kesuva is , ( file cabinet, safe deposit box…) yes our brothers have suffered greatly from the fire . and making a new kesuva can take a rov 10 minutes
All that had to be said was that the Chief Rabbinate will be available around the clock to expedite A Kesuva D’ircasa which is critically necessary. Harav Ovadia Yosef wrote a tshuvah where he is quite lenient on this matter. It would have been so nice if this could have been accomplished with nicer and more gentle verbiage.
The eida is now a radical fringe? And what’s the reason for a new kedushin?
there is no problem, they are permitted to live together. this was for talmudic era, it doesnt apply for now says the Rama
It is unfortunate indeed that this story conveys a distorted notion of what a Ketubah is all about and what The Halacha is.
Briefly stated, the Ketuba was instituted to protect the wife’s interest and ensure that if there were to be a divorce she
would have some basic financial sustenance. The husband is not allowed to have intimate relations with her unless he affords her this basic protection.
According to many authorities if for some reason she does not have access to the ketuba but has access to an object of value or alternatively can sign and withdraw money from a joint bank account, that is deemed to be sufficient protection and the couple can live together.
Portraying the ketuba as anything less than a Halachic instrument of concern for the protection of the wife ( instituted over 2000 years ago) is disingenuous and ignorant.
You fellows are so concerned about the ketubah. What about the fact that the picture at the beginning of this post shows a women with uncovered hair nonetheless. My eyes are burning. Waiting for a discussion about this point
What’s so special about Vosizneiz that it attracts so many ignoramus Jews and Apikorsim? It’s good that that all these comments of bizui talmidei chachomim are recorded so that there’ll be no denying them on the day of reckoning.
This Rabbi should be sent for sensitivity training. He’s an ambassador for assimilation.