Jerusalem – Though it is well-established in Jewish law that a Kohen may not marry a divorcee, according to the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court, there are exceptions to the halacha. As Ynet News reports (http://bit.ly/Mhga4y), the Court ruled last week that it would grant a divorce to a couple who had been married in a civil service in the United States with a Christian judge presiding. The divorce will not prohibit the woman from entering into a second marriage with a Kohen.
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Testimony from relatives on both sides indicates that the purpose of the January 2006 marriage was strictly to obtain a work visa for the woman. The couple resided together for only four months before opting to seek a divorce without a “Get.” The woman stated she has been dating a Kohen for more than a year and wants to marry him according to Jewish custom and ritual. The husband also confirmed that he intended for his future marriages to be conducted in accordance with Jewish tradition.
The Dayanim (judges) found that the woman’s appeal to marry a Kohen was valid under the halachic state of “Sha’at Dachak” (time of distress), which allowed the Court to approve her request to marry a Kohen and grant the divorce without a “Get.”
“We have been witnessing a growing trend of couples who marry in civil ceremonies without being aware of the fact that the marriage is valid (from a Jewish perspective) with all that implies, and when this involves Jewish-Israeli residents, the authority (in charge of) divorce is the Rabbinical Court alone,” said Maggy Halperin, the attorney who represented both sides in this matter before the Court.
My humble (very humble) understanding was that whether civil marriage
has Halachic validity is dependent on a disagreement between R Henkin ZTL
and R Moshe Feinstein ZTL. With the former upholding and the latter
not…
Look out world. Here come all the know-it-alls in Brooklyn with their many opinions….
At least they didn’t have to rule against the yichus of the kohen.
And maybe the man is really not a kohen at all?
A Zonah & Chalula
The basis of the ruling seems to be that a civil marriage is no marriage acc. to halakha, and hence a civil divorce does not render the woman forbidden to a Cohen as a “gerushah.” Without knowing the facts of the case, that is certainly a defensible position.
#6, you being motzei laaz on talmidei chachamim and a daughter of Israel, all based on a second hand accounti in a newspaper article from a secular newspaper, which probably has an agenda. Shame on you.
There have been many other cases of kedushin approved by a beis din under the same principle of “Sha’at Dachak” allowing women to marry kohanim. In this case the inapplicability of the civil marriage is fairly clear but there have been decisions by a beis din that simply ignore prior marriages based on mental inacapacity and other more subjective criteria.
There is something very wrong here in the way this is being reported. Without doubt, the דיינים here are well aware of סימן ו סעיף א in עבן העזר, where the מחבר, in the name of the תשובת הרשב”א סימן תק”נ, states:
ואפילו לא נתגרשה רק משום קול קידושין בעלמא אע”פ שהוא ברור שאין ממש באותן קידושין ואין נותנין גט רק מכח חומרא בעלמא אפילו הכי פסולה לכהונה
That is, the only reason he is giving a גט, is because people are saying they are married (he is certain they are not), which is a חומרא בעלמא. And, even here she is פסולה לכהונה.
The problem with reporters is that for the most part, they are not תלמידי חכמים, as is very clear from the reporting of this case. Take this sentence, for example:
“The divorce will not prohibit the woman from entering into a second marriage with a Kohen.”
If this ‘divorce’ is a גט, how could she be מותרת לכהונה? If this ‘divorce’ is not a גט, then, what is it? Regrettably, there is not enough information in this article to make any sense of this entire matter.
just wondering if woman had any children? that would put another spin on things
This is odd. Years ago a friend of mine had civilly married an Israeli who wanted a green card. He suddenly got up & went back to Israel. (Which is why I will never marry an Israeli, never!)
Anyway, she was considered married by Jewish law, even though there was no chuppah or kedushin, and she needed a get. A civil divorce wasn’t enough.
The only reason she was able to obtain a get, after 3 years, was because her aunt bought her a plane ticket to go study in Israel. (She didn’t know about the marriage; no one did.)My friend had to track down this bum & go to the Israeli rabbinate. B”H she’s now remarried with kids, but she learned her lesson well.
It’s a lesson I impart to anyone planning to marry some “poor soul” for a green card. DON’T!!!