New Library Exhibit on Jewish Marriage

To Build a New Home: Celebrating the Jewish Wedding

May 18 – August 14, 2022

Read an article about the exhibit in JTA

“To Build a New Home: Celebrating the Jewish Wedding” is the inaugural exhibit of the new Library of JTS, featuring a collection of rare materials illustrating the creative, often surprising, evolution of Jewish marriage practices over centuries.  

Among the many treasures on view are lavishly decorated ketubbot, marriage contracts, from 17th and 18th century Italy; a 13th-century French religious compendium outlining marriage rituals and including a bawdy wedding poem; a fragment from a 12th-century prenuptial agreement affirming the right of the groom’s mother-in-law to live with the married couple; and from the modern era, a ketubbah making it possible for Jewish women to initiate a religious divorce.  

“To Build a New Home” will show you the remarkable development of Jewish marriage from Talmudic times to the present—and the rich streams of tradition and innovation in Jewish life throughout history.  

How to Visit

Visitors are welcome to view the exhibit any time during library hours. Groups (minimum three people) may schedule a tour by contacting JTS Librarian Dr. David Kraemer at dakraemer@jtsa.edu.

Summer library hours: Monday and Wednesday, 8:30 am – 8:00 pm, and Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:30 am – 7:00 pm. 

Location: JTS, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), New York City

Visitors will need to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination. 

“To Build a New Home: Celebrating the Jewish Wedding” has been made possible by a generous grant from the David Berg Foundation and by ongoing support, thanks to a generous capital gift, from Dorothy Tapper Goldman.