Note 166 — II. OUR DUTIES. (continued 4)

The marriage was preceded by the betrothal (‏אירוסין‎ or ‏קידושין‎), the solemn promise on his part to take her after a fixed time to his house as his wife, and on her part to consider herself as his wife and to prepare herself for the marriage. Legally she was already his wife, and infidelity was visited with capital punishment. The interval between the betrothal and marriage used to be twelve months; at present the two events are united in the marriage ceremony, and are only separated from each other by an address or by the reading of the kethubhah. That which is now called betrothal or engagement is merely a preliminary settlement of the conditions of the marriage (‏תנאים‎ “conditions”). The conditions used to be written down, including a fine (‏קנס‎) for breach of promise; the agreement used to be followed by the breaking of a glass166 and by a feast.