5 Must Know Tips For Personalizing Your Ketubah Text Jewish Wedding Contract

You're jewish and you just got engaged, so you need to think about getting a ketubah for your wedding. You’ve found one online. Not too hard yet. The next step is to fill in the blanks in the ketubah, and that’s where it can get puzzling! Of course, there’s the basic information that, if you don’t know it already, you’re in deep weeds--such as the bride and groom’s names, the ceremony date, and where it is taking place. But it can get a bit mystifying as you go further to hebrew names, etc.

So get your ketubah personalized right with these 5 suggestions.

1) Let your rabbi or cantor do it! OK, not “actually” personalize the ketubah itself (have you SEEN his or her handwriting?) but complete the information for the ketubah artist or calligrapher. Seriously, the fastest way to have your ketubah personalized the right way is to let your rabbi or cantor complete the form provided by your ketubah artist or vendor.

2) Don’t create Hebrew names. Hebrew names should not be made up for non-jewish parties. Instead, have non-jewish names transliterated--phonetically spelled out in hebrew characters. And if you’re jewish and you have a yiddush name, ask your rabbi or cantor if you can use that or if he or she will require you to use an equivalent Hebrew name instead (e.g. Rivka instead of Rifka).

3) End it with your parents' level. In Hebrew, your name is typically something like: “Rachel, daughter of Joshua and Sarah.” Of course, your father, Joshua, is technically “Joshua, son of Samuel and Rivka," and your mother "Sarah, daughter of Abraham and Talia.” But just stick to your parents. Saying “Rachel, daughter of Joshua, son of Samuel and Rivka, and Sarah, daughter of Abraham and Talia” is just too much. So stick to your parents’ level. Some couples simply choose to leave all parents out. And typically just first (and middle, if you like) names are used - no last names.

4) Know the exact time of your ceremony. In the hebrew calendar, the date starts and ends at sundown. So when figuring out the hebrew date for your ketubah, it will be determined by whether the wedding is before or after sunset.

5) Are you having an Orthodox or Conservative ceremony? There are more details to provide, including the bride’s “status” (whether this is the bride’s first marriage--or more technically, whether she is a virgin--or if she’s been married before and divorced or widowed, and if she’s converted), if either the bride or groom’s fathers are levite or cohain (if you don’t know, typically it means “no”), and if the ketubah artist or calligrapher should complete the 'regal' - the straight line in the hebrew letter 'koof' - in the hebrew word 'v'kaninah' or not. Let’s make it easy - talk to your officiant about these items for personalizing your ketubah texts.

There's always more to know, but if you follow these suggestions and talk to your officiant, your ketubah should be properly completed.