Marriage Contract

The bride and groom in this marriage contract, Hayyim Yosef Tarica and Gioia Israel descended from two of Rhodes' most prominent Jewish families. The bride's grandfather, R. Hayyim Yehudah Israel (1768?-1829) was the Chief Rabbi of Rhodes, and her father, Michael Yaacov Israel (1790-1856) and the groom's father, Samuel Tarica, were among the community's leaders.
The Jewish community of Rhodes numbered between 2,000 and 4,000 members in the 19th century, becoming an important center of ketubbah illumination and Jewish ceremonial art production. Wealthy members of the community invested large sums in weddings, sometime causing rabbinical censure. Ketubbot from Rhodes were written in two columns, with the conditions stated at left. This is one of the most magnificent ketubbot to have survived from the 19th century Ottoman Empire. The architectural motif featured repeatedly in this ketubbah is not found in any other known example. The building recalls pavilions found in the palaces of the Ottoman sultans. Around the scalloped edge is a verse from the Book of Ruth.