Please explain, if the ketubah is a binding document, with witnesses signing that the husband made certain promises to his wife, then if he fails to fulfill those promises why doesn't that automatically result in a get al pi halacha?

Indeed the ketubah is a binding document according to Jewish Law-the halakha. However, there are two points that you may think exist, which do not do so in practical terms.

1. There are obligations of behavior that come together with the ketubah but they are not enforceable. There actually is no practical penalty clause if these obligations are abrogated. Basically, the obligations in the ketubah are monetary--regarding wife support throught the duration of the marriage and in the event that the husband decides to divorce his wife without just grounds for divorce. In Israel where the Rabbinic Courts are part of the legal system, he can be obligated to pay wife support. However, the Rabbinic Courts in the diaspora have no such power. Nevertheless, even in Israel, the promise to pay a lump sum in the case of a divorce is almost never put into effect. Halakha has evolved today so that any wife who agrees to or asks for a divorce does not receive the ketubah sum. As I mentioned, the sum is to be paid if the man unilaterally decides to divorce his wife without proper grounds for divorce, against her will.

2. There is no mechanism in the ketubah contract that addresses the situation where the woman demands a get. Even if she demands a get due to the faults proven in the husband, the ketubah does not include provisions to help her get her divorce. This issue is addressed in the talmudic and rabbinic literature and rulings--but the bottom line is that today a Rabbinical Court is unable to "issue" a divorce decree unless the husband willingly gives the wife a get.

This explains how the halakhic prenuptial agreement (The Beth Din of America's prenup at www.theprenup.org or the "Agreeement for Mutual Respect" in Israel at /www.iyim.org.il/prenup/) is a natural extension of the ketubah. Just like the ketubah, it comes to fill a need for protection of women at times of the dissolution of the marriage - in the circumstances that exist today in Jewish society. The prenuptial contract for the prevention of get-refusal does not come instead of the ketubah contract, which still stands in every Jewish marriage -- it expands upon it.

Thank you for your response. Can you please explain to me what purpose the ketubah serves if the promises contained therein are unenforceable? Even not looking at the issue of divorce, what if the husband spends all his money on himself and nothing on his wife, refuses (or neglects) to sleep with her, etc.? Why have the ketubah if there is no recourse when the husband doesn't fulfill it?

You are correct in that the husband has those obligations to his wife. However, the crux of the problem lies in that despite the fact that a Rabbinical Court would rule that he must fill those obligations, in these times these rulings cannot be enforced in the diaspora. We live in an age where both society and the legal system give no authority or power to Rabbinical Courts. To put it simply--If a man decides to ignore a rabbinic ruling today that is his democratic right!

Just like you cannot force someone to put on tefillin each day, even though he is obligated by Torah law to do so, you cannot force someone to fulfill his obligations dictated by the ketubah.

If the Ketubah