Curious... what is a ketubah?

I don't know what it is, and I always see it being used. I know it's what the bride and groom stand under during the ceremony, but I'm just trying to broaden my horizons and find out its signifigance... what religion(s) it is used for... its origination, etc.

Thanks!

ETA: I know, I know... I screwed up. I'm talking about a chuppah! Oops! Thanks for enlightening me, ladies! I like knowing as much as I can about everything wedding!

Re: Curious... what is a ketubah?

A Chuppah is what the Bride and Groom stand under during the ceremony

A Ketubah in Judiasiam is a marriage contract in easy to understand terms. It basically there to protect the brides rights as a wife should there be divorce/death...etc.....

Re: Curious... what is a ketubah?

A ketubah is the jewish wedding contract .

A Chuppah is what the B&G groom stand under.

Here are the definitions from Wikipedia:

The ketubah lays out rights of the wife (to monetary payments upon termination of the marriage by death or divorce), and obligations of the husband (providing food, shelter, clothing, and sexual satisfaction to the wife). Due to its overriding importance, it was not written in the Hebrew language, but in Aramaic, the lingua franca of Jews at the time the first Ketubot became standardized.

Orthodox Judaism uses a traditional ketubah based on the forms that have evolved and standardized over the past millennium. There are minor variations between Orthodox groups, but none of major legal or theological difference. While Jews today no longer speak Aramaic, Orthodox ketubot are still written in this tongue. Nowadays many Orthodox ketubot also have English translations.

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Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist changes
Conservative Judaism uses a traditional ketubah, but has incorporated two changes. Aramaic ketubot (pl.) are still used, but since Hebrew has been reborn as a living language, an official Hebrew version of the Ketubah is now sometimes used. A second change is that a new paragraph is allowed as an option as a 'prenuptial agreement'; this paragraph includes a directive that if the couple ever gets a civil (non-religious) divorce, they must go to a Bet Din ('[rabbinical] court') and follow its directives, which tells the husband that he must give his wife a get, a Jewish divorce.

The Reform and Reconstructionist movements use both more equalized versions of the ketubah, and also use documents that are essentially not a ketubah at all, but rather a new form of wedding celebration document.

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Chuppah

An elaborate chupahChuppah (also spelled huppa, huppa, chupah, or chuppa - plural chuppot) is a canopy traditionally used in Jewish weddings. It consists of an embroidered cloth -- sometimes a tallit ('prayershawl') -- stretched or supported over four poles, and is often carried by attendants to the location where the ceremony will take place. It is meant to symbolize the home which the couple will build together.

A traditional Chuppah, especially within Orthodox Judaism, recommends that there be open sky exactly above the Chuppah. If the wedding ceremony is held indoors in a hall, sometimes a special opening is built to be opened during the ceremony. Many Hasidim prefer to conduct the entire ceremony outdoors.

The word chuppah originally appears in the Hebrew Bible (Joel 2:16; Psalms 19:6). The chuppah represents a Jewish home symbolized by the cloth canopy and the four poles. Just as a chuppah is open on all four sides, so was the tent of Abraham open for hospitality. Thus, the Chuppah represents hospitality to one's guests. This 'home' is also initially devoid of furniture as a reminder that the basis of a Jewish home is the people within it, not the possessions.

Historically, in Talmudic times, Jewish weddings in the past comprised two separate parts. The first of which was the betrothal ceremony. The second part was the actual wedding ceremony. These two ceremonies usually took place about a year apart. The bride lived with her parents until the actual marriage ceremony, which would take place in a room or tent that the groom had set up for her. Later in history, the two ceremonies were combined and the marriage ceremony started to be performed publicly. At this new ceremony, the chuppah, or the portable marriage canopy, was included as a symbol of the chamber in which the marriage originally took place.

In a spiritual sense, the covering of the chuppah represents the presence of G-d over the covenant of marriage. As a man's kipa (skull cap) served as a reminder of the Creator above all, so the chuppah was erected to signify that the ceremony and institution of marriage has divine origins.

Re: Curious... what is a ketubah?

wow! Am I a dope! Lucky thing I asked! Thanks for the education on both of them!

Re: Curious... what is a ketubah?

our chuppah and ketubah

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