[Avodah] kesuvah

[Jonathan Baker]

From: "Ilana Sober" <ilanasober at gmail.com>
 
> When my husband died, no one brought up the question of the kesuvah.
> Perhaps because all property issues were dealt with by the lawyer, and
> to some extent the bank and investment people, definitely not by beis
> din.

Probably the amounts were sufficient to cover the ketubah.  Were you 
married in Galut or Israel?  In Israel, they often put realistic amounts
on the ketubah (as a tosefet); in Galut, statutory amounts (200 zuz,
200 zekukim).
 
> How much money (in modern currency) is the kesuvah supposed to be, anyway?

Some sources say "enough for food and clothing [not shelter, apparently]
for a year", which might be, say, $5000?

The weights of silver translate to: 200 zuz, 11.5 oz. troy, 200 zekukim,
115 oz. troy.

What's the current silver price?  About $13/oz.  so 126.5 oz = $1644.
Not a heck of a lot.

My wife reminds me: we had an Israeli mesader kiddushin (her cousin, 
R' Mordechai Goldstein).  He added a line to the ketubah for me to sign,
apparently because it *is* a legally binding document in Israel, and 
thus needs the signature of the person making the committment.

--
        name: jon baker              web: http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker
     address: jjbaker at panix.com     blog: http://thanbook.blogspot.com