Between the giving of the ring, and singing the Seven Blessings, there is a rather less accessible item of the wedding ceremony, reading the ketubah. The Ketubah is traditionally read in Aramaic, which is incomprehensible these days except to a talmudically learned crowd, but may equally be read in Hebrew or English translations.
The traditional ketubah details the groom's obligations to the bride, mostly of a financial nature, his commitment to support her in a dignified manner and the amount that she will receive in the event of his death or divorce. There is some debate whether the ketubah is mandated by the Torah or whether it was a rabbinic innovation. Those who take the latter view say that the reason was so that divorce should not be quick, easy or thoughtless for the husband as he would be liable to a significant payment.
Although the sums mandated in the traditional ketubah are not used today as the basis of divorce settlements, it is still meaningful for the groom to
publicly affirm specific commitments to support his
wife at the wedding.