A Decorated Ketubbah from Corfu, 1867

Recording the marriage of Moses Judah Viterbo son of Shlomiel Abraham Israel Viterbo and Mazel Tov (known as Fortunata) daughter of Isaac Ferro, on Sunday, 3 Tevet, 5628 [= 29 December 1867].

1 broadsheet (24 ½ x 16 ¼ in.; 620 x 415mm). Ink and gouache on parchment; minor dampstaining, tear at the top right corner not affecting the text, matted and framed.

The presence of a Jewish community in Corfu dates back to the 12th or 13th century. Kettubot from this Ionian island in the Aegean Sea often include some of the earliest traditions of written ketubbot, as seen in this example. The dual dating system uses both the traditional method of counting the years since Creation as well as an enumeration of years since the destruction of the Second Temple. Another unusual tradition is the inclusion of a clause wherein the bride undertakes “to honor and serve him [the groom] in cleanliness and purity, as decent and modest Jewish women honor and serve their husbands.”  This clause, written in Hebrew in the midst of the Aramaic text, is reminiscent of early medieval ketubbot from the Land of Israel.

In 1863, when the Kingdom of Greece annexed the island of Corfu, the Jewish community numbered 6,000 (just over 9% of the local population). However, in 1864, anti-Jewish riots broke out, initiating a large exodus of Jews to Greece and Italy.