gracefuhiess is deceit, and beauty is vanity, but the woman that fears the Lord, she is worthy of praise" {Mc'ffilla, iv, 8). Having made his choice, the young man or his father informed the maiden's father of it, whereupon the young people were legally betrothed. The betrothal was celebrated by a feast made in the house of the bride (Jebamotk, 43 a ; Taanith, 26 b ; Pes- sachim, 49 a; Kiddushin, ^b b), and is called 'pCIT'p, made sacred, for by it the bride was made sacred to her bridegroom, and was not to be touched by any one else. It is also called 'pD~i^X, which may be from 0"i5i=: W"lX, to betroth. For a betrothal to be legal, it has to be effected in one of the following three modes : 1. By money, or money''s worth, which, according to the school of Shammai, must be a denar ("iS'^'l) =90 grains of pure gold, or, accordmg to the school of HiUel, a perutah (nZ3l"iS)=half a grain of pure silver, and which is to be given to the maiden, or, if she is a minor, to her fa- ther, as betrothal price ("^ITI^^p CjOS) ; 2. By letter or contract (""^OIT^N "i::'^), which the young man, either in person or through a proxy, has to give to the maiden, or to her father when she is a minor; or, 3. By cohabita- tion (nX^D, -usiis), when the young man and maiden, having pronounced the betrothal formula in the presence of two witnesses, retire into a separate room. This, how- ever, is considered immodest, and the man is scourged {Kiddushin, 12 b). The legal formula to be pronounced is, " Behold, thou art betrothed or sanctified to me (Hiri ^XnUi'^l nir^ niD "^b n'a^lp'a rx), according to the law of Moses and Israel" {Kiddushin, i, 1 ; iv, 9 ; Tosiftka Kethuboth, iv; Kethuboth, iv, 8; Maimonides, Hilchoth Ishuth, iii; Ehen Ila-Ezer, xxxii). Though betrothment, as we have seen before, Avas the beginning of marriage itself, and, like it, could onlj- be broken off by a regular bill of divorcement (w5), yet twelve months were generally allowed to intervene between it and act- ual marriage (tlSin) in the case of a maiden, to prepare her outfit, and thirty days in the case of a widow (Kethu- both, 57 a). The intercourse of the betrothed during this period was regulated by the customs of the differ- ent towns Qilishim, Kethuboth, y, 2). When this more solemn betrothment ('pttJI^'^p) was afterwards united w'ith the marriage ceremony (iHS'in), engagements ("p^lTw^) more in our sense of the word took its place. Its nature and obligation will best be understood by pe- rusing the contents of the contract (D'^SJr) which is made and signed by the parties, and which is as follows : "iSIay he Avho declares the end from the beginning give stability to the words of this contract, and to the cov- enant made between these two parties ! namely, between A, bachelor, with the consent of his father B, and C, who is proxy for his daughter D, spinster. The said A, bachelor, engages, under happy auspices, to take the afore-mentioned D, spinster, by marriage and betrothal ("pUJITipl ilSin), according to the law of Moses and Israel. These henceforth are not to conceal anything from each other appertaining to money or goods, but to have equal power over their property. Moreover, B, the said father of the bridegroom, is to dress his son in goodly apparel before the marriage, and to give the sum of . . . in cash ; whilst C, father of the said bride, is to give his daughter before the marriage a do\m- in cash to the amount of ... as well as jewellery to the amount of ... to dress her in goodly apparel correspondmg to the dowry, to give her an outfit, and the bridegroom the Talith {T^'OZi), i. o. the fringed wrapper used at prayer [see Fringe], and Kittel (b w^p), i. e. the white burial garment, in harmony with his position and in propor- tion to the dowry. The marriage is to be (D.Y.) on the ... in the place ... at the expense of the said C, the bride's father, and, if agreed to by both parties, may take place within the specified period. Now the two
MARRIAGE
115
MARRIAGE
parties have pledged themselves to all this, and have taken upon themselves by an oath to abide by it, on the penalty of the great anathema, and at the peril of for- feiting half the dowry ; but the forfeit is not to absolve from the anathema, nor is the anathema to absolve from the forfeit. The said father of the bride also under- takes to board at his table the newly-married couple for the space of . . . and furnish them with lodgings for the space of . . . The surety on the part of the bridegroom is E, son of F ; and on the part of the bride, G, son of H. The t^vo bridal parties, however, guarantee that these sureties shall not sutfer therebj'. Further, C, the said father of the bride, is to give his daughter an assurance letter, that, in the event of his death, she is to get half the inheritance of a son (~i-T "^lin "lliD); whilst the bridegroom pledges himself to get his brothers, in the event of his dying without issue, to give her a Chalizah document [for which see below], without any compensa- tion. But if there should be dispute or delay on the subject, which God forbid, the decision is to be left to the Jewish congregation. We have taken all this in jiossession from the party and sureties, for the behetit of the other parties, so that everything aforementioned may be observed, with the usual witness which quali- fied us to take care of it. Done this day . . . Every- thing must be observed and kept. (Signed) . . .'' (Comp. Nachlas Sku:a, 9 b). This contract, which is written in Rabbinic Hebrew, is used by all orthodox Jews to the present day.