JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A Bnei Brak man wished to discover the name of his grandfather and asked the Tel Aviv religious council to investigate for him. To his surprise, he was told that his father and grandfather were allegedly Kohanim- the implication being that he too is a Kohen.
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This presented a real halachic problem for him, since he is married to a divorcee, who had previously been married. The couple have six children, but according to Torah law a Kohen cannot remain married to a divorcee.
The couple asked Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein shlita what to do and he said that they should separate until the matter was resolved.
The problem arose from the marriage certificate of the man’s father. Originally it had been stated that the man’s father was a Yisrael but the word had been erased and above it had been written the word “Kohein.” The question is if such a proof is halachically admissible and could change the status of the son.
The matter was brought before the Shaalvim Beis Din and they sought a means to allow the man to stay married. The man’s father, who had not been religious, never told his son that he was a kohen and did not establish such a status in the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.
Based on this, the Beis Din established that three of the four major authorities discussing the issue- Rashi, Rabbeinu Tam, Rambam and Ramban – would not accept the marriage document as testimony that the man is a kohein. Moreover, since the document had words erased and was not halachically credible it would not be accepted by the fourth authority.
Also, there was only one witness signed on the marriage certificate stating that the man’s father was a kohein. Halacha requires two witnesses for such a declaration. Additionally, it is unclear if all kohanim in our generation are indeed kohanim, since we have no proper lineage documents.
Based on all of these premises, the Beis Din succeeded in allowing the man to return to his family and to continue to live as a Yisrael.
A Beis Din that finds what is best.
Hmmmm… A man from Bnei Brak who has to go to the Bais din in Shaalvim??!! No one worthy enough in Bnei Brak to deal with this?? somethng’s fishy..
” LOOPHOLE” is not the correct word in this context , a yesh al mee lismoch bshaas hadchak godol , now how do you say that in english
The right decision was made.
Isn’t there a DNA Kohen Gene? Or is that a Bubbe Meise?
Sorry, but I know many Kohanim and families of Kohanim who have documentation of their lineage stretching back to the 2nd Temple and many who can trace their lineage to King David. While many cannot document their lineage, the claim the nobody has the ability is false, even though it is a minority who can.
Is there a proper mechanism in place for one to check yichus? One would think that prior to marriage it is imperative to do so. The Zionist run Rabbanut is not helpful what about Jews in America or other countries?
Why not do the genetic test for the Kohen gene? just to be certain.
Today a test is easily available that can genetically test if one is a kohen
That being the case why be mattir a SOFEK Doriysa where we always Pasken lechumra??
This method was verified and accepted by Harav chaim Zimmerman ztl around 35-40 years ago
wow, Sephardim in general have better Kohanic lineage proof.
May it be that his 6 kids have no issues in Shidduchim. If the Bais din had ruled he must divorce, those kids would be mamzarim. Beis Din reached a psak that allowed him to stay married. Agreeing to date someone sometimes relies more heavily on the issue brought to Bais Din more so than the psak.
ספק דאורייתא לחומרה.
Another abomination by the Zionist state.