Marriage Contract on paper. Uniting Raphael Jacob and Sarah on Wednesday, 13th Shevat, 1888

(KETHUBAH)

13th Shevat 1888

Tangier

1888

Text in brown ink, Sephardic square and cursive Hebrew scripts. Text is enclosed within a colorful oval wreath of flowering branches accomplished in red, green and black watercolor and ink. The superscription “Ya’aleh Zugam Be’mazal tov” is inscribed in black ink - hollowed square characters along the upper margin. The formula “Be’simna tava...” is written below in gold monumental characters shadowed in black ink. Below, the initial word “on Wednesday” is similarly inscribed in monumental characters. In the text of the contract, the customary word “Chai” occupies the height of three lines

cf. Sabar no. 238

Jewish settlement in North Africa comprised of two largely separate communites. The “toshavim” local Jews and “megorashim” newcomers, consisting of exiles from Spain and Portugal. Each group had their own styles and customs when it came to Kethubah content and decoration. Kethoboth from Tangier were obviously created under the influence of European Sephardic Kethuboth, specifically those of Italian and Gibraltarian provenance. Because of the close geographic proximity and other close familial relations between Gibralter’s Sephardim and the Megurashim communities in North Africa, Gibraltarian Kethuboth, served in particular, as models. Indeed, the text is very similar to that of Gibraltarian kehuboth including the short formula of tena’im wherein the bride’s dowry and the grooms’ increment, are expressed as a multiple of 18 with the enlarged “Chai” prominent in the text. Kethuboth from Tangier also typically contain the wish that God protect and preserve those exiles from Castile