Cindy and Len's Ketubah

During Chanukkah, 2006, when Cindy and Len were getting to know each other, they exchanged gifts. Not only did they discover that they had given each other copies of the same book, but they had also given each other overlapping collections of illuminated Hebrew letters and texts by Adam Rhine. One of their favorites was an illumination of the expression from Song of Songs, "Ani l'dodi v dodi' li." "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." When they decided to get married, they ordered a signed print of that beautiful verse and decided to use it as the centerpiece of a ketubah or marriage contract that they would design together. Over a period of months they carefully reviewed many versions of the ketubah, modern, traditional, egalitarian and chose a text that was especially meaningful to them. After the wedding they had the ketubah beautifully framed. It now hangs near the front door of their home, a constant reminder of their love for one another.

This Ketubah witnesses before God and all present that on the 28th day of Tevet, in the year 5768, January 6, 2008, in the community of River Forest, Illinois, the covenant of marriage was entered between the bride, Cynthia Barnard, and the groom, Leonard Grossman. Surrounded by family and friends, each promised the other:

We affirm our committment to each other as husband and wife. Our lives are now forever intertwined. We will celebrate all the passages of life with joy and reverance. In times of happiness we will cherish each other, and in times of trouble, we will protect each other. Our home will be a place filled with warmth, light and compassion, shared freely with all who dwell there. We willingly enter into this covenant of companionship and love: from this day forward we are as one. She said to him, Be thou consecrated to me as my husband according to the tradition of Moses and Israel. He said to her, Be thou consecrated to me as my wife according to the tradition of Moses and Israel. May our home and family be bestowed with blessing and peace.
Cynthia Barnard
Leonard Grossman