Ketuba Value
Question
Hi there, I would kindly request to know about bride price and dowry payment in a Jewish marriage. Is it compulsory and are there laws governing how much the payment should be.
Answer
Shalom!
Thank you for your question.
The value of the Ketubah, marriage document, is 200 "zuz" for a virgin bride and 100 "zuz" for a divorced or widowed bride.
The value of 200 zuz in today’s money is, according to the Ashkenazi minhag, 5,843 shekels, and according to the Sefardi minhag, 731 shekels. (This value changes according to the market, so it is advisable to call the Beis Hora’ah hotline at +972 (0) 73-326-0800, line 84. and to add a little more than the actual value, to be on the safe side.)
A groom is permitted to add to this minimal amount should he so desire.
These amounts of money were paid from a man's property in the event of his divorcing her pre-deceasing her.