Ketubbah

The Tractate Ketubot ("marriage contracts") discusses inter alia the sum specified at the time of marriage to be paid in the event of divorce or the husband's death, together with the mutual obligations of man and wife, the wife's property, the law of inheritance in the female line and the widow's rights. The Tractate Nidda ("Female impurity") regulates conduct during menstruation (cf. Lev 15:19ff) and after birth (Lev 12); further topics are women's life stages, puberty and various medical questions.

Marriage, Sex and Family in Judaism explores Jewish marriage from historical and contemporary perspectives, focusing on the religious and legal concepts of marriage, and the social impact of family in the Jewish community. The book does not advocate one perspective or another; instead, the essays range from conservative to liberal viewpoints, offering readers a well-balanced mixture of perspectives on Jewish marriage.

Epstein, Louis M. The Jewish Marriage Contract: A Study in the Status of the Woman in Jewish Law. New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1927. xvii, 316 pp. Reprint available December, 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. 1-58477-464-9. Cloth. $85. * A cogent and compelling examination of the history and significance of the Jewish marriage contract, the Ketubah, with extensive notes in Hebrew and English. As Epstein notes in the preface, the Ketubah offers an excellent introduction to the character of Jewish marriage because it is not a sentimental, rhetorical or subjective text. Instead, it is "a legal document embodying the essential points agreed upon by the parties and sanctioned by the law as to the manner of their living together as husband and wife" [2]. This work will interest those concerned with property rights, family, divorce, and the evolution of betrothal and marriage.

Ken M. Campbell presents the work of six scholars who map varying understandings of marriage and family in six cultural settings: Victor H. Matthews on the ancient Near East, Daniel I. Block on ancient Israel, S. M. Baugh on Greek society, Susan M. Treggiari on Roman society, David W. Chapman on Second Temple Judaism and Andreas Köstenberger on the New Testament era.

In the third volume of his groundbreaking series on rabbinic authority in English, Rabbi Warburg discusses the ramifications of a Jewish divorce. In this well-composed monograph, Rabbi Warburg primarily focuses on the case of the modern day agunah, a wife who is unable to get divorced due to her husband’s recalcitrance. He addresses the various techniques, such as obligating the giving of a get (Jewish divorce document), finding relief for an agunah who signed an exploitative agreement, and listing different avenues to void a marriage (bitul kiddushin) used by the rabbinical court. This issue is of some controversy in the Jewish community, and there is heated debate about it.