Posts in : Esti Horwitz | Orthodox Ketubot - Part 3
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Breaking Bad’s Restaurant Not Kosher According to the OU
The Orthodox Union has come out to declare that the fictional restaurant on the TV show Breaking Bad would not be kosher under the laws of kashrut — despite the restaurant on the TV show have the classic OU circular logo all over it!
I’m glad they’re dealing with the important issues.
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Aug12
Vowelized Ketubot?
by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Vowelized Ketubot?
The Ketubah is traditionally created without any vowels.
This has been the Jewish tradition for thousands of years, for a few reasons, including: vowels were traditionally used as a learning-aid for children, not in official, formal, aor legal texts.
If you’re interested in a Ketubah with vowels, a few of our artists might be able to create it. So just contact us and we’ll see what we can do!
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Jul30
Chabad Ketubot!
by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Chabad Ketubot!
We’ve had the honor of creating dozens of Ketubot for members of Chabad Lubavitch.
If anyone is interested in a Chabad Ketubah, just ask! We’d love to work with you to create the perfect Ketubah.
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Historical & Vintage Ketubot: Classic Ketubah Styles
One of our favorite lines of Ketubot are the historical and vintage ketubah lines.
We’ve worked with some first-class Ketubah artists to create elegant ketubot in the style of our ancestors.
Is your family from Persia? We have a bunch of Persian-style Ketubot, including the The Persian Ketubah and the Shiraz Ketubah — and of course the Tehran Ketubah.
If your family is from the Pale of Settlement (as your humble author’s family was from!), we have the Russian Ketubah and the Polish Ketubah.
We also have ketubot in a dozen other styles of traditional Jewish communities. Check out our Historical & Vintage Ketubah Collection.
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on An Orthodox Rabbi Recognizes Medical Marijuana as Kosher
According to this article, an Orthodox Rabbi in Israel, Efraim Zalmanovich, has recognized Medical Marijuana as being kosher.
I would be very curious to see the Halachic precedents for this. It seems so… out of character and inappropriate.
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Fantastic Orthodox Wedding in Seattle… for a Rapper
What a wonderful story of these two African-American couples in Seattle that converted to Judaism under an Orthodox Rabbi and then got married: Double wedding in Seattle caps rapper’s transformation. And he’s a rapper, to boot!
How beautiful to create a Ketubah for all couples embracing Orthodox Judaism!
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Great Halachah Question: Is a Christian Cross an Idol
We love wrestling with the ancient questions of Halacha, particularly as applied to the modern world. Here’s some interesting analysis of the question of, should we consider a Christian Cross to be an Idol or not?
My favorite response is here:
Need to look up exact source of the tshuvah, but paraphrasing the Ben Ish Hai: crosses in churches (and those found inbas-relief on antique “expensive” vessels, bowls etc) are to be considered as idols and used in idol-worship. He says however crosses worn on necklaces nowadays (in his day) are not considered such and are merely decorative. He also interestingly mentions paintings/images of “the Madonna” are not generally to be considered idols.
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by Esti HorwitzComments Off on Orthodox Ketubah Tip: Don’t Forget The Border
There’s a lot of subtlety to getting the Ketubah just perfect. Here’s one rule that’s easy to forget:
Ensure that there is enough space between the text and the art. If the art comes too close to the text of the contract, it could be seen as ambiguous (is it this letter, or that letter?). And we must avoid all ambiguity.
This is the reason why, on all of our Ketubot, we ensure that a substantial amount of space is left between the Ketubah art and the Ketubah text.
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Yeshiva Bans ‘Hipster’ Glasses
Interesting article: Officials at the Bobover Yeshiva B’Nei Zion school in Brooklyn have written to parents to say they’re outlawing thick-framed retro glasses.
Here at Orthodox Ketubot, we try to balance the line between being traditional and being cool, and I’m surprised that they have found a Halachic justification for banning glasses.
To us, it is self-evident that, say, creating a Ketubah with hipster glasses is going to far, but we don’t know where the Halachah justifies this!
This is, fundamentally, one of the challenges of a deeply decentralized religion, like Judaism.
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Haredim Emigrating from Israel?
Now that we’re starting to be drafted into the Israeli military, many Haredim are starting to emigrate from Israel. Hello, 777, New York!
