kiddushin 2

the paths that he must pursue to get the girl.
she has to lie there and wait to be taken, like a field.
and then she must wait for him to die, or leave her.
and then she is hers.









This is Mesechet Kiddushin, the section of Talmud that discusses how a man gets a wife. How he takes her to be his wife... this acquisition can be done in three ways (says the first mishna) by money, sex or document.... She is brought like a field. The mishna continues that she acquires herself in two ways, by him divorcing her, or by him dying. 

The last section Gittin was about the process of divorce, specifically the written divorce document called a get. So I concentrated on the writing, using a dip-pen from a beautiful calligraphy set given to me by the artists with whom I worked with in Venice. Also in that set was a nib shaped like a hand, with an extended finger. An echo of the gesture made by the bride when the groom gives her a ring under the chupah. It seemed like an apt drawing instrument to use for Kiddushin. The calligraphy set came with two inks, black and red. I used the black for gittin, so naturally I will use the red for Kiddushin. It's a gorgeous deep red, that turns goldish olive green if too heavy. The nib is extremely fine, and gives a very delicate line.