Husband & Wife (the main Ketubbah)

From the Encyclopaedia Judaica 8:1123 – 1124

Medical Care

The medical expenses incurred in case of the wife’s illness must be borne be her husband since these form part of her maintenance: “medical care in the time of illness is as necessary to a person as it is to sustenance” (Ket. 4:9 and Rashi Ket. 51a s.v. “hayyar lerape ot” ) Hence questions such as the scope of this obligation of the husband and whether and to what extent he is obliged to defray debts incurred by the wife in seeking a cure for her illness are governed by the same laws as those pertaining to her maintenance.

Ransom from captivity

The husband is obliged to provide the money to perform any act required to redeem his wife from captivity (Ket. 4:9 and 52a; Sh. Ar., EH 78:1) “Captivity” in this context  is not confined to the case of actual captivity of the wife in the time of war, but embraces all circumstances in which she is prevented as a result of the restriction of her freedom, from living with her husband, e.g. where husband& wife are separated as a result of persecution or war and thereafter the husband succeeded in reaching Erez Israelאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל
The Land of Israel is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. For more info click here
while his wife was stranded in a country from which she is free to depart. If in such circumstances the payment of money will enable the wife to leave the country and join her husband, it is his duty to pay the required amount of her Ketubbah, because in general the husband’s duty is to ransom his wife with all means at his disposal: “his wife is now as his own self ” (Yad, Ishut 14:19; Rema EH 78:2; Ha-Gra, EH 78, n.4) In consideration of the duty the husband is entitled to usufruct of his wife’s property. The husband cannot be relieved of this duty by his wife’s waiver of her right to be ransomed – even if the parties should so agree prior to their marriage – lest she become assimilated among the gentiles (Sh. Ar, EH 69:5).

Burial

It is the husband’s duty to bear the cost of his wife’s burial and all related expenses such as those necessary for erecting a tombstone, etc. (Sh, Ar., EH 89:1) Since this duty is imposed on the husband as one of the Ketubbah conditions and not by virtue of the laws of secession, he must bear these cost without regard to the question whether and to what extent, his deceased wife had contributed a dowry or left an estate in his favor (Beit Shemuel 89, N.1). If burial costs are defrayed by third parties e.g. by the hevra Kaddisha, in fulfilling the mitzvah of burying the dead, in the husband’s absence or upon his own refusal to do so, the husband will be liable to refund the amount expended to the parties concerned (Sh. Ar., EA 89:2).

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