The Mazal Tov Ring and the Ketubbah

The earliest Mazal Tov rings were discovered in Weißenfels, Colmar, and Erfurt dating to the early fourteenth century. All three rings share a similar design, most notably the Hebrew letters מ-ז-ל-ט-ו-ב (M-A-Z-A-L-T-O-V) engraved on the top of a miniature architectural structure at the top of the ring’s bezel. The rings’ decorative elements, however, might have precluded, from halachic perspective, their use in the betrothal ceremony itself. While most scholar agree that such rings were indeed used as part of the Jewish marriage ritual, their particular function during the ceremony was still very much unclear and debatable. An illustration included in a Jewish prayer book (siddur) produced in 1481 in Pesaro (present-day Italy) may shed light on an additional function such rings might have served – as ketubbah holders and adornments.