Abramovsky went on to say that that although a ruling by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi, exempted Sephardi Jews from the prohibition against living without a ketubah, Ashkenazi Jews could rely on no such statement and would need a new document prepared before continuing with married life.
A later statement, issued by Chief Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau on Monday, tempered Rabbi Abramovsky’s words.
They announced that couples could continue living together even if their ketubah had been burned because local rabbinates would have copies of their ketubah on file.
In such cases, though, a ketubah d’Irkasa (replacement ketubah) should be procured as soon as possible.
The rules regarding ketubot date from the Talmudic era, and are designed to protect the rights of a woman within marriage.
