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Today was a first. I have never proofread a ketubah for a divorcee before. Part of the standard formula for a ketubah includes the "status" of the bride after her name.* This basically affects how much money she is worth in case the marriage dissolves.
As I said, this was my first divorcee. Lots of first time weddings, who get "virgin" no matter what actually has gone on behind closed doors, and at least one convert, but no divorcees. So I didn't know what the real Aramaic word was. "The artist knows," I hear you cry. Yes, I'm sure the artist knows, but part of my job is to give the piece one final proofread, just in case the artist's proofreader missed something. I'd hate to have someone pay a lot of money for a piece that their rabbi proceeds to invalidate. And thus the internet search began. I found![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hatam_soferet's online text which had it spelled one way, and a transliteration in an article which indicated it was spelled another. In the end I called the rabbi, who approved the spelling that was in the ketubah.
The practical upshot is that I should probably learn more Aramaic so that I can hedge these questions off at the pass. Or I need my very own pet Aramaic expert.**
/ubergeek mode
*I.E. is she a virgin, a divorcee, a widow, a childless widow who DIDN'T marry her brother-in-law...
**hatam_soferet's words, not mine
As I said, this was my first divorcee. Lots of first time weddings, who get "virgin" no matter what actually has gone on behind closed doors, and at least one convert, but no divorcees. So I didn't know what the real Aramaic word was. "The artist knows," I hear you cry. Yes, I'm sure the artist knows, but part of my job is to give the piece one final proofread, just in case the artist's proofreader missed something. I'd hate to have someone pay a lot of money for a piece that their rabbi proceeds to invalidate. And thus the internet search began. I found
hatam_soferet's online text which had it spelled one way, and a transliteration in an article which indicated it was spelled another. In the end I called the rabbi, who approved the spelling that was in the ketubah.The practical upshot is that I should probably learn more Aramaic so that I can hedge these questions off at the pass. Or I need my very own pet Aramaic expert.**
/ubergeek mode
*I.E. is she a virgin, a divorcee, a widow, a childless widow who DIDN'T marry her brother-in-law...
**
hatam_soferet's words, not mine
