Ketubahpdate

Well, thankfully the ketubah arrived at Kat’s house today. YAY FEDEX! We also got a shipment of yarmulkes for the wedding.

Ketubah kvetching … glossary included!

The day of the wedding is getting closer and closer, and there are a lot of little details that Kat and I have been or are fretting about. A lot of stuff for the wedding we’ve got taken care of. The invitations are waiting to be addressed and sent, we have a kiddush cup (that’s a cup for a traditional Jewish blessing over wine), we ordered yarmulkes (skullcaps, a traditional headcovering for men) for the wedding (including a special one for me), and we ordered a ketubah.

A ketubah is sort of a marriage contract, and the concept for it is very ancient. It may possibly go back all the way to the time of Moses, where it represented a progressive leap forward for the rights of women in Middle Eastern societies. The ketubah spells out all of the rights and privileges of the woman in a marriage, and the document is firmly her property; in ancient times, even if a get (sort of Mosaic divorce papers) was granted, the ketubah was hers. Since the Middle Ages, the ketubah has also been art … there are some incredible examples to be seen if one takes a look.

Kat and I ordered a really pretty one, which you can see here: Art Ketubah . It’s based on a painting that she and I love, “The Kiss” by Klimt. We were really excited when we placed the order for it. We were excited not just because it was one of those moments that caused us to say, “we’re getting married!”, but because we had found wording for it that honored both my Jewish heritage and traditions, but also Kat’s non-Jewish ones. This was important to both of us … when Kat and I first began talking wedding, she told me that she could do without all the elements of a Jewish wedding but one: the ketubah. For my part, I wanted to make sure that although our wedding was Jewish, that it acknowledged and honored Kat’s upbringing. So the ketubah was a big deal.

I was sorely disappointed when Kat let me know that UPS has managed to lose our ketubah as it was enroute to us. I mean, how on earth can UPS lose something??? Their entire business is based on delivering stuff! I felt better after Kat told me that the company we ordered the ketubah from had already been in touch and assured her they were going to ship another one free of charge (they’re using FedEx this time). Despite that, I really needed to do a little kvetching (complaining), hence this post.

Stuff

I’m sitting in my new apartment, surrounded by all of the possessions I had in storage. It was all finally delivered (I was searching for an apartment for a month, then it took about 2 weeks for Bekins Moving to get it here) this morning, and now I have gone from having a very empty apartment to having a really full apartment.

Now I will grant you that both I and my back are breathing a sigh of relief and anticipation at the arrival of my bed with its nice, firm Sealy mattress. I’ve been sleeping on a borrowed air mattress, and no matter how much air you put into one of those things, it just isn’t the same as a real mattress. Despite how glad I am to see the bed, as I look around at everything I can’t help but ask the question …

“Why do I have all this stuff?”

As I begin to face the daunting task of unpacking tons of books, CDs, DVDs, plates, pots & pans, artwork, etc., I am reminded once again of an incident recounted for us in the New Testament, in Luke 18:

“18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Now, I am not by any means saying that I am rich. But as I look about at all my stuff, I have to think about this passage. The rich young ruler came to Jesus with a sincere question about how he could receive salvation, and when Jesus challenged him to give up his worldly goods to follow the Lord, the rich young ruler couldn’t do it. It says he grew sad, and my presumption is that he was sad because he knew that he was more attached to his wealth than he was to God. As I look at all of my worldly goods, I wonder how much of it interferes with my attachment to God.

How about you?