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Beit Midrash
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- Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions
- Family and Society
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- Wedding and Sheva Berachot
Answer: It is best, if feasible, to ask the beit din in charge of authorizing your marriage how they want it handled. However, we can understand why the parties involved apparently want to avoid that headache, and we will inform you of the halachic issues on your preferred plan. Your description hints that you did not use the IsraeliRabbanut, as the ketuba copy they provide is a special form which is different from a regular ketuba, including that it says it is a copy, which has advantages.
The ketuba must be a valid financial document. If the first ketubawas invalid (not every mistake invalidates), it was necessary to write a new one as soon as possible, although it could be done after going into the yichud room (see Living the Halachic Process, vol. III, H-2). The copy of the ketuba is a contemporary idea and not a halachic obligation. It primarily serves to keep information on the wedding and ketuba in the State of Israel apparatus, which can prove valuable in several ways. There is a machloket among poskim whether a woman who lost herketuba can secure payment based on this copy (see our Ask the Rabbi column, Balak 5774). This in turns impacts on the question of whether a couple can continue living together in the fullest sense when the couple’s ketuba is lost or disqualified and the Rabbanut has a valid copy, prior to arranging a replacement ketuba (see ibid.).
Can one predate a standard ketuba so that it can serve as a duplicate for the ketuba? One of the things that disqualify a document is if it is predated (Shvi’it 10:5). This is because of the laws of liens, which enable extracting payment from one who bought real estate from one who owed money. One could misuse a predated document to seize property from someone who bought land before the obligation found in the document, in which case the lien did not take effect on it. Therefore, a predated ketuba is invalid. If we accept the view that the copy cannot be used for payment but just provides information, then it might not be viewed as a financial document that must not be predated.
Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions (657)
Rabbi Daniel Mann
211 - Lighting Candles When One Needs to Leave the House
212 - Filling in a Copy of the Ketuba Late
213 - Halachic Status of Bitcoin
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However, if the witnesses did not carry out their job validly, they can sign a new valid document (ibid. 4) with the date when the document was to have been properly signed. The Shulchan Aruch (CM 39:3) discusses the case of one who becomes obligated to his friend with a kinyan (as a chatan does) in front of witnesses. He says that the witnesses can write the subsequent document with the date of thekinyan even if they delayed doing so for a long time. In our case, while the witnesses signed a new valid ketuba, they did not finish their job with that since their kinyan on the terms of the ketuba was designed to result in a ketuba copy as well. Therefore, they can finish their job by writing the copy with the date of the time of the kinyan/wedding. Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg shlita agreed with this analysis and recommended that you explicitly ask the witnesses to sign the copy, which you can easily do.
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Israel and the Nations A Few Minutes & Many Innovative Ideas on Antisemitism & What to do About It
As we approach the High Holidays, this short lecture (18 minutes) deals with the unfortunate situation of how Israel and the Jewish People stand against antisemitism, analyzing its cause according to Rav Kook, and how to deal with the issue pragmatically & via our prayers.
Ha'azinu PURSUIT is PERFECTION
p. Ha'azinu, Shabbat Shuva
Rav Kook deals with the question of the seemingly hopeless nature of Tshuva. For G-d Himself knows that He created us with free will, which inevitably means we will sometimes make mistakes and choose wrong. This can easily be frustrating, freezing us into inaction and ye'ush (loss of hope). If one sins even once, does he chalila have no choice but suicide?! Moreover, our Godly conscience demands justice, righteousness and perfection, but we all know this is impossible, so what's the solution? Rav Kook's innovative thinking, strongly based on chazal (our sages), offers an inciteful and important aspect to this topic, especially this time of year!
Sukkot Bug-Free Sukkah: Essential Halachic and Practical Schach Guide
How to inspect, clean, and store bamboo mats and palm branches to protect your mitzvah and holiday meals.
