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Conservative Rabbis Amend Traditional Jewish Marriage Contract

May 20, 1954
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The traditional Jewish marriage contract–the Ketubah–will be amended under a decision taken by the joint law committee of the Rabbinical Assembly of America and the Jewish Theological Seminary, it was announced here today. The amended text of the contract would be available for use at all Jewish marriages before the end of the summer.

Dr. Saul Lieberman, Professor of Talmud at the Seminary, drafted the new form which, authorities say, is the first adaptation of the Ketubah in over 1,000 years. In the new Ketubah, the bride and groom both agree to live in accordance with the Jewish marriage law throughout their lives and to take no steps toward disruption of their marriage without consulting rabbinical authorities.

Either the wife or the husband will be entitled to call the other spouse before the rabbinic court, and both empower the court to set such terms as it may see fit for failure to obey its summons or decisions.

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