My Parent's Ketuba

My Parent's Ketuba

The Ketuba of Eli Nasatir's Parents: Carolyn Rosenberg & Steven Nasatir (Translation attached)

This is the ceremonial Jewish Ketuba/h that married Carolyn Rosenberg and Steven Nasatir (parents of Eli Nasatir) in 1992. A Ketubah is a traditional Jewish prenuptial contract that establishes the responsibilities between the soon-to-be wed pair. The Ketubah is designed by a sofer and is traditionally written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. This particular Ketubah has an especially intricate floral cutout design decorating both sides of the physical text that lies the middle, this specific design pattern has 200 in circulation and this copy was number 115/200. The sofer (scribe) of this Ketubah was the joint duo of Jay Greenspan and Tsirl Waletsky, legends in the industry. Both of them have passed away in the last decade, and Waletsky’s work was so noticeable that the Smithsonian began collecting Tsirl’s designed Ketubah. The Ketubah is one page, in Aramaic, reading right to left. Within the body of the text, the Hebrew names, given at birth, of both Carolyn (Chana) and Steve (Shaul) are placed within. As is customary with the tradition of the Ketubah, witnesses need to sign the document in order to make it official. This ceremonial position was given to close family friends of the wedded couple: Michael (Natan) Tarnoff and Ronald (Shimon) Futterman. Up until now, this document was solely a familial treasure, framed and hung proudly within the Nasatir house. Symbolically the document contains “legal” value, however in true secular practice its reach is exceedingly limited.
On a personal note obviously this Ketubah is incredibly meaningful to me as it symbolizes my parents’ Jewish union. It’s an insight into my personal life as well as the manner in which Jews conduct their holiest endeavors, and therefore it is especially important to me to preserve this text for personal, historical, and emotional reasons.

Tsirl Waletsky and Jay Greenspan

Jewish Law

Tsirl Waletsky and Jay Greenspan

Year of 1992

17, Adar II 5752

Yehiel Poupko, Eli Nasatir, Tsirl Waletsky, Jay Greenspan, Ronald Futterman, Michael Tarnoff

Manuscript

Aramaic, with English translation

Marriage contract