Mishnah
Mishnah

Halakhah for Ketubot 1:2

בְּתוּלָה, כְּתֻבָּתָהּ מָאתַיִם. וְאַלְמָנָה, מָנֶה. בְּתוּלָה אַלְמָנָה, גְּרוּשָׁה, וַחֲלוּצָה, מִן הָאֵרוּסִין, כְּתֻבָּתָן מָאתַיִם, וְיֵשׁ לָהֶן טַעֲנַת בְּתוּלִים. הַגִּיּוֹרֶת, וְהַשְּׁבוּיָה, וְהַשִּׁפְחָה שֶׁנִּפְדּוּ וְשֶׁנִּתְגַּיְּרוּ, וְשֶׁנִּשְׁתַּחְרְרוּ, פְּחוּתוֹת מִבְּנוֹת שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים וְיוֹם אֶחָד, כְּתֻבָּתָן מָאתַיִם, וְיֵשׁ לָהֶן טַעֲנַת בְּתוּלִים:

The kethubah of a virgin is two manah, and of a widow, one manah. A virgin who is a widow or a divorcée or a chalutzah from betrothal [and who remarried] — her kethubah [from the second] is two manah, and she is subject to a claim of virginity [i.e., if the second found her not to be a virgin, she loses her kethubah, it having been a "mistaken purchase"; for he had married her on the assumption that she was a virgin.] A proselyte, and a captive, and a bondsmaid, who had been redeemed and proselytized and freed (when they were) less than three years and one day old — their kethubah is two manah, and they are subject to a claim of virginity.

Gray Matter III

Applying these rules to the contemporary situation is far from simple. The value of the ketubah as set forth in the Mishnah (Ketubot 1:2) is exceedingly low by contemporary standards and hardly serves as ample means of supporting a woman in case of death or divorce. According to Rav Moshe Feinstein (Teshuvot Igrot Moshe E.H. 4:91-92), the Ashkenazic ketubah is valued at one hundred pounds of silver, which in January 2008 amounted to $21,870.5For alternative views regarding the value of the ketubah, see Techumin (25:180-194). Indeed, Rav Hershel Schachter (at a conference of the Council of Young Israel Rabbis) articulated6Rav Schachter told me that Rav Yitzchak Herzog already made this point more than fifty years ago. the need to update the value of the ketubah, but there has been no movement to implement his suggestion.
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