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Daniel Sroka is both the owner and artist behind our sponsor Modern Ketubah. For you gentiles in the house, a ketubah is a marriage certificate based in Jewish tradition that's also a work of art. But, no worries, you don't have to be Jewish to be able to get in on the ketubah action, especially if it's from Daniel.
Because in the traditional world of ketubahs, Modern Ketubah's are decidedly different, and here's why…
Daniel made his first ketubah for his own wedding after fruitlessly searching for one that would work for an interfaith couple.
We spent weeks searching, looking through hundreds of designs, but none felt right. Every ketubah seemed to rely on the same over-used imagery: stars of David, trees of life, pomegranates, Jersusalem skylines, etc. These symbols get used so often, for so many purposes, that they didn't hold any real meaning for us. We wanted something more… relavent to us.One day, as I was showing Cara my photographs of an old rose bush, we realized that we had found the perfect art for our ketubah. This ancient rose bush — strong, tough, and protective yet capable of creating flowers of beauty and grace — said more about our values and thoughts on marriage than any [other] images.
Since then Daniel has created ketubahs for all kinds of couples — Jewish, Interfaith, Christian, multi-cultural, same-sex, and non-religious — and all kinds of ceremonies — weddings, commitment ceremonies, anniversaries and vow renewals. And he makes them all in his artist-owned and operated studio in northern New Jersey. So when you buy your Modern Ketubah, you are working directly with the artist, instead of getting something standard off of a warehouse shelf.
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All of the ketubahs are also designed to be perfect for interfaith and multicultural weddings. Modern Ketubah's goal is to create ketubot which any couple, from any background or situation can find meaningful and significant. A perfect example of this is the foundation covenant — inspired by the tradition of the ketubah and the Quaker wedding certificate, and it is signed not only by the couple, but by everyone attending the ceremony. These are really popular choices for same sex weddings, but would also make for a fantastic guestbook alternative!
And how about a little Offbeat Home cross-over?… After the wedding, your Modern Ketubah becomes a gorgeous piece of wall art that couldn't POSSIBLY be more meaningful!
Daniel also does rush order, so you can definitely get your hands on the most meaningful piece of art you'll ever own ASAP!
About the Author: Megan Finley Horowitz
When Megan's not writing, traveling, and sleeping, she's eating like the fate of the world depends on it. (You're welcome, world!) You can snoop into her personal life over on her website The Dash and Dine!
These are AMAZING!
I got married in 1999, so a few years too soon for one of these, but I do love our ketubah very much. It’s been on our living room wall since we got it framed 😀
Pretty nice idea for a marriage certificate!
Just ordered ours! Thanks so much for the post- we were really struggling to find a ketubah that we could visualize on our wall for years to come. Daniel’s artwork is just gorgeous.