What's on your Ketubah?

goldgold

FI and I love one of Stephanie Caplan's ketubahs. I wanted some mushy english, but the Hebrew doesn't work for our Rabbi. The Conservative w/ English text is a bit boring. I think I might end up compromising and going with that text since we love the print so much... I wanted to know, what text is on your ketubah?

2dBride

Ours says (in both Hebrew and English):[quote]On this day of great celebration and joy, on the third day of the week, the eighteenth day of the month of Tishri, in the year 5770, which corresponds to the sixth day of the month of October, in the year 2009, in the city of Winchester, Massachusetts, 2dBride, daughter of _____ and _____, and NotFroofy, daughter of ____ and ____, spoke the words and performed the rites which united their lives and affirmed their love. On this day, we promise to honor our vibrant love, to nurture and protect it. Our lives, enriched by our unique traditions and faiths, will embody trust, constancy, and compromise. We will cherish and sustain each other, meeting life’s trials with quiet strength and courage, and embracing life’s blessings with wonder, joy, and laughter. We will grow as individuals and delight in an elegant freedom borne from mutual respect. May there be peace in our home, may we be blessed with good fortune, health, and happiness, and may our devotion to one another ennoble us. “With my beloved by my side, every day is good to awaken to, and every moment is a gift.” Our sacred covenant is valid and binding.[/quote]We had a similar problem to you:  the artwork we loved (from [url=http://<a href="http://www.20thCenturyIlluminations.com" rel='nofollow'>www.20thCenturyIlluminations.com</a>]20th Century Illuminations[/url]) didn't come with text we loved.  We spent a lot of time looking around to see whether there was some other artwork we might also love that came with better text.  In the end, we decided that since the ketubah will be hanging on our wall for the rest of our lives, we should bite the bullet and pay for customized text.  With permission from Ketubah Tree, we used their Commitment B text.

2dBride

One more thought:  Could you talk to the artist about doing the Hebrew text that your rabbi likes with the mushy English that you like?  It is my understanding that rabbis are generally much more concerned about the Hebrew text than the English, so this might work as a compromise.  (You would, of course, also need to check this with your rabbi.)

Rachiemoo

we have the same stephanie caplan text you are talking about. we wanted something traditional so it worked well for us. i believe stephanie can do custom texts though so you could ask her if she has any ideas if you haven't already.

MoFree

Wwe used the standard egalistarian Reform clause in both English and Hebrew. I did not even know it could be customized.

hbrynn

Mine's in my bio I believe.

goldgold

Thanks ladies! I think I'll contact Stephanie Caplan and see what our options are.FI looked at that one (beloved) and immediately said that he loved it. He hasn't looked at anything else, so maybe I need to get him to spend some more time...

amybw

We had similar issues with finding a text that match the design we like.  You can customize the text, but its a lot of extra $$$, depending on the artist, could be about $200. We ended up using the Humanistic secular #1, with the artist Nava Shoham.  Also, if anyone is in a hurry, she is great.  I wasn't even in hurry to get mine, but i got it within a week, and i was told it usually takes about a month.  She was great!

2dBride

Yeah, it was a lot of extra $$ to customize ours.  Unfortunately, it was tough to find text that would work for us.  Even "gender neutral" text has a gender in Hebrew, because there is no gender neutral language possible in Hebrew.  And the language it uses to refer to the couple is the masculine plural.  (If one member of a group is male, Hebrew refers to the group as a whole in the masculine form.)  This works for a straight couple or a gay male couple, but is a bit of an issue for a lesbian couple.  Thus, we either had to do without the Hebrew, or find one of the few texts available for lesbian couples.

goldgold

I contacted the artist and she said it was $200 or $250 (I can't remember) to add the egalitarian english to the conservative hebrew. That's too much for us to spend on top of the ketubah and customization (adding names/dates). I feel like the sentiments are in our hearts, so I'm ok with using simpler text on the ketubah.Thanks for all of the input!