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M a y th e J e w is h D a u g h te ro fa
G en tile M an M arryaK o h e n ?
R a b b i M ic h a e lJ .B ro y d e
In tr o d u c tio n
J e w is h lifei n th e U n ite d S ta te s is s u b je c t to tw o tr e n d s th a t
s e e m
t o
b e
p o in tin g
i n
o p p o s ite
directions. T he first is an a s to n is h in g ly h ig h in te rm a rria g e a n d a s s im ila tio n ra te ,' s o th a t th e O rth o d o x c o m m u n ity e n c o u n te rs fa m ilie s in th e ir m id s t w here the husband is not Jew ish. The second phenom enon- p o in tin g
i n
th e
o p p o s ite
d ire c tio n -is
th e
in c re d ib ly
la rg e n u m b e r of baalei teshuvah, p eo p le w h o are retu rn in g to liv in g a lif e
co m m itted
t o
h a la c h a ?
T h is
a rtic le
e x a m in e s
o n e
in te rs e c tio n of th e s e tw o tre n d s -w h e th e r
th e d a u g h te r of a re la tio n s h ip b e tw e e n a g e n tile m a n a n d a J e w is h w o m a n m a y m arry a kohen.AK ohen is d iffe re n tia te d fro m o th e r J e w s in th a t h e
m ay
n o t m a rry
a convert,a divorcee, or a chalala?
(th e
o ffsp rin g of a K ohen fro m a fo rb id d e n re la tio n s h ip .
T h is a rtic le is d iv id e d
into four sections. The first section
1 .A c c o rd in g to d a ta fro m th e N a tio n a l J e w is h P o p u la tio n S u rv e y of 2 0 0 0 -
2001, 47% of Jew s w h o m arried in th e last five y ears m arried non-Jew s, u p
fro m
a re a d ju s te d
in term arriag e fig u re of 43%
fro m
th e p re v io u s s u rv e y (1 9 9 0 ). T h e o v e ra ll in te rm a rria g e ra te h a s g ro w n tre m e n d o u s ly o v e r th e p a s t 30 years, froma naverage of 9% before 1965 to 52% in 1990.
2 .N J l? S d a ta in d ic a te s th a t a b o u t 1 9 % of O rth o d o x J e w s in A m e ric a w e re
n o t ra is e d O rth o d o x .
3 .V ayikra 2 1 :7 .
P rofessor of Law at E m o y U n iversity School oflaw;
F o u n d in g R a b b i o f t h e Y o u n g Isra el of T o c o H ills i n A tla n ta ;
and a dayan in the Beth D in of Am erica.
9 8
THEJO U R N A LO FH A L A C H A
surveys the
s in g le
ta lm u d ic
s o u rc e
o n
th is
to p ic
a n d
th e
p re s e n ta tio n of th is to p ic in th eR ish o n im . T h e s e c o n d s e c tio n e x a m in e s th e c o d ific a tio n of th is halacha in the Shulchan A ruch a n d
i t s
m any
d iffe re n t
c o m m e n ta to rs . T h e
.th ird
s e c tio n
e x a m in e s th is is s u e a s th e m a tte r is u n d e rs to o d
a m o n g th e
p o s t-S h u lc h a n
A ruch
c o m m e n ta to rs , c o d ifie rs , a n d
re s p o n s a
w riters.
T he
fin a l
s e c tio n
s u rv e y s
c o n te m p o ra ry
h a la c h ic
a u th o ritie s
o n
th is
is s u e
a n d
re fle c ts
o n
th e
d iffe re n c e s b e tw e e nin re a c h a n d o u tre a c h , a n d b e tw e e n th e la n d of Is ra e l a n d th e U n ite d S ta te s .
I .
T he
T a lm u d ic
S o u r c e
a n d
i t s
F iv e
P o ss:ib le
E x p la n a tio n s
The Gem ara in
Y evam ot 4 4 a 4 5 b
discusses at great length
m any
d iffe re n t a s p e c ts of
e lig ib ility to
m arry . The Gem ara
re a c h e s
tw o
s e p a ra te
c o n c lu s io n s
to
th is
to p ic
th a t
a re
som ew hat at
te n s io n
w ith
o n e
a n o th e r, a n d
th is
te n s io n provides the basic fram ew ork for discussing this issue. O n page 45a the T alm ud recounts:
W hen
R . D im i cam e
[fro m
Palestine to
B a b y lo n ia ], h e
stated in the nam e of
R .Y itz c h a k b e n A v u d irn i in th e
n a m e of R a b b e in u[R . J u d a h th e P rin c e ], "If a n id o la te r o r a s la v e h a d in te rc o u rs e w ith th e d a u g h te r of a n Is ra e lite , th ec h ild [b o rn fro m s u c h a u n io n ] is a m am zer."
R .
Y ehoshua
b e n
L evi
said: "The
c h ild
i s
dam aged ( m e k u l k a l ) . " W i t h r e s p e c t t o w h a t ? If w e m e a n i n e l i g i b l e t o m arry
a n y b o d y ,R . Yehoshua ben
Levi had
p re v io u s ly s ta te d th a t th e c h ild w a s le g itim a te ! R a th e r, [th e c h ild is in e lig ib le ] to
m arry
a
k o h e n ,fo r e v e n a ll A m oraim
w ho
d e c la re
th e
c h ild
le g itim a te
a g re e
th a t
i t
i s
p ag u m
(im p a ire d , unfit)!
T his is inferred a fortiori (kal vachom er)
4 . T h e w o rdp a g u m
c a n b e u n d e rs to o d in a n u m b e r of d iffe re n t w a y s, fro m
u n fit to d im in is h e d o r im p a ire d to d e te s te d o r d is ta s te fu l (s e eS ifn ,D evarim
3 2 0fo r a n in s ta n c e of su c h , a p p e a r in g in c o m b in a tio n w ith th e w o rdb a z u i
W HOM AYM ARRYAK O H E N
9 9
f r o m t h e c a s e o f a w i d o w . If i n t h e c a s e o f a w i d o w w h o
w as m arried to a Kohen Gadol-whose
p ro h ib itio n is n o t
e q u a lly a p p lic a b le to a ll-h e r
s o n is im p a ire d , h o w m u c h m o re s h o u ld th e c h ild of th is w o m a n [w h o h a d re la tio n s w ith
an
id o la te r
o r
a
s la v e ]
b e
ta in te d ,
w here
th e
p ro h ib itio n is e q u a lly a p p lic a b le toa ll.5
If t h e T a l m u d h a d e n d e d i t s d i s c u s s i o n h e r e , o n e w o u l d h a v e
lo g ic a lly
c o n c lu d e d
th a t
th e
d a u g h te r
of
a
re la tio n s h ip
b e tw e e n a g e n tile m an an d a Jew ish w o m an isi n fact pagum
(u n fit) to
a kohen. B ut at the very
e n d
of its analysis, after discussing several personal inquires directed tow ard various A m oraim , the G em ara reaches a different, form al conclusion- o n e w h ic h m a k e s n o m e n tio n of a n y s tig m a a t a ll. It s ta te s :
R. A cha son of Rabbah
said to Ravina: "Amemar once
h a p p e n e d
to be in our place and he
declared [such a] c h ild to b e le g itim a tei n the case of a m arried w om an, as w e ll a s in th a t of a n u n m a rrie d w o m a n ."
A n d th eh a l a c h a i s t h a t ( v e h i l c h e t a ) if a n i d o l a t e r o ra s l a v e
c o h a b ite d
w ith
th e
d a u g h te r of
a n
Israelite, the
c h ild
[b o rn fro m s u c h a u n io n ] is le g itim a te (lasher),both in th e case of a m arried w om an, and in that of an unm arried w om an.
T h e G e m a ra c o n c lu d e s th a t w h e n a g e n tile m a n h a s a s e x u a l
re la tio n s h ip w ith
a J e w is h w o m a n , th e c h ild isl a s h e r .
T he
c e n tra l q u e s tio n a ll th e c o m m e n ta to rsa n d decisors face-and th is q u e s tio n w ill p e rv a d e o u r e n tire a n a ly s is of th is to p ic-is w h e th e r th e firs t ru lin g
of
the G em ara in passing, that the
c h ild
i sp a g u m
t o
ak o h e n , is o v e rtu rn e d b y
th e c o n c lu d in g s ta te m e n t, th a t b y J e w is h la w th e c h ild of a g e n tile m a n a n d a Jew ish w o m an is la sh e r. A s w e a n a ly z e th e v a rio u s p o s itio n s , i t
w ill
becom e
e x tre m e ly
im p o rta n t
t o
n o te
h o w
e a c h
c o m m e n ta to r u n d e rs ta n d sp a g u m
to a kohen, eith er im p licitly
[c o n te m p tib le ]).T hese d is tin c tio n s w ill s o o n b e c o m e e x tre m e ly im p o rta n t.
5. Y evam ot4 5 a .
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