Litvaks Remove the word "“V’eizon” (I will feed) from the Kesubos In Israel

 

A dramatic halachic controversy emerged during a shiur given by a prominent Dayan from Bnei Brak. The Dayan, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Cohen, noticed that a kesubah printed by a chareidi bookstore chain did not contain the word “V’eizon” (And I will feed), a critical aspect of the husband’s obligations as delineated in the kesubah. The implication is that with such a kesubah a husband would not be obligated to provide sustenance for his wife, which is contrary to the halachic requirement in marriage.

Since the erroneous kesubah has been mass-printed by the popular bookstore chain, it is assumed that there may be thousands of invalid kesubos which contain the mistaken version.

Rabbi Cohen mentioned this point during a shiur at the Shtefanesht Beis Midrash in Zichron Meir where he serves as a poseik. He ruled that anyone who has such a kesubah in his possession must refer to the Rabbi who performed his wedding and ask him to exchange the kesubah for a kosher one.

The dayan mentioned that even though there were loopholes which could enable the kesubah to be validated, it would be correct to exchange the kesubah, since the Nachalas Shiva maintains that such a kesubah is invalid and his rulings are accepted by Ashkenazi poskim.

The Dayan’s ruling was widely circulated and a number of young couples discovered that their kesubah was problematic and asked to change their kesubos. In the meantime, the bookstore has stopped printing the problematic kesubos.