The Shooks Ketubah

This Ketubah contains many levels of symbolism and meaning. The lettering around the outside of the concentric circles is an ancient Jewish incantation which was the theme of this couples union. It translates as “For the sake of the unification of the Blessed One and the Shechina in perfect unity” In essence, it represents the coming together of the masculine and feminine principals of G-d and the Universe. This unification takes place on many levels represented within the design. The five concentric circles represent the five levels of soul according to Kabbalah. These levels are called the Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida. The first three levels are connected to the individuals physical body while the last two are more cosmic. The image is a visual meditation representing the unity on all of these levels. The four trees and the four phases of the moon correspond to the Kabbalistic four worlds, representing the levels of spirit manifesting into the physical world: Assiyah (Making), Yetzirah (formation), Beriyah (creation), Atzilut (nearness). These four trees all connect in the image through their roots to make 72 rings. The number 72 is significant because of the 72 letter name of G-d which was used by the the Kabbalists to attain the “Heart of heaven.” (Meditation and Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan)

On the top and bottom of the Ketubah you will see water opening and parting. This represents the parting of the Red Sea which has come to symbolize the souls journey from Mitzrayim (Egypt) to freedom and revelation (the Hebrew word Mitzrayim means a narrow place) As a couple moves into the sacred covenant of marriage, they move from a narrow place of self-focus to the expansiveness of union and a transformation into something unknown and larger than themselves. The journey that the Jewish people took when they crossed the red sea was one of great faith and reveled miracle, from known to unknown, from slavery to freedom to the ultimate experience of G-d consciousness at Mt Sinai. The waters also represent the primordial waters of creation as it says there were waters above and waters below. From the primordial waters the world was birthed. Central to the Jewish couples sacred union is the mitzvah of the Mikvah; a ritual immersion in water.

Rabbi Yochanan states that it is harder to bring two souls together than it was for G-d to part the Red Sea. A union of souls is truly the greatest of all miracles, and a blessing for the whole world.

Water was important for this Ketubah because the couple was married in the month of Cheshvan, the time of the flood and the story of Noach. The flood represents a complete transformation of everything in the created world, like a butterfly liquefying in the cocoon.

The four trees: olive, date, pomegranate and fig, are special fruits associated with the land of Israel. Each contains many levels of symbolism such as the pomegranate which symbolism fertility. These fruits are utilized in the Tu B’Shvat seder and have come to represent the Kabbalistic four worlds. Each tree contains eight branches, just as the tallit contains 8 strings on each of the four corners of the garment. These strings known as Tzitzit are used to remind the wearer of the mitzvot. The limbs of all the trees, and the strings on the tallit add up to 32 which is the gematria for the word “lev” in Hebrew which means heart. Kabbalah speaks of the 32 paths of wisdom that lead to the heart. Similarly the human heart can be seen as having 4 trees emanating out of it, 2 veins and 2 arteries. According to Rabbi Gershon Winkler, the Garden of Eden is said to have four rivers flowing out of it.

Many Tallit contain within them, one blue thread. This blue thread is spoken of as an object of mystical contemplation. According to The Bahir, an ancient Kabbalistic text, “The blue is like the sea, the sea is like the sky, and the sky is like the Throne of Glory. Through it one climbs to the terrestrial to the astral to the transcendental.” This blue thread can be found weaving its way through the 72 twists of the trees roots.