Modern Masters: Kohanim | Rabbi Sam Shor | November 27th 2025

Okay. So, good morning. So last week we spoke a little bit about Kaneka because we were Arabisl and we spoke about how durab Mosha Wilson and Rook both talk about how during this period of Kaneka every single one of us so to speak becomes a cohain right there we're all because collectively the Jewish people are called a priestly nation so that with with that as our backdrop today I want to do something completely different than what we ordinarily do in the modern masters course. And instead of looking at at modern masters of Jewish law, we're going to actually deal with some modern shuvos. Okay? Some some modern response to literature related specifically to the questions uh surrounding kahuna, the status of who is a coin today and what happens if a person is a coin today but wasn't always religious. And then he finds out the implications that he's now a cohane or that he's now religious that that kahuna status has an implication for his personal relationships for his conduct etc etc and we're going to start with this with this article that appeared in our sha almost 5 years ago and it's we'll just read it quickly a young man from Ben recently paid a visit to the religious council in Tel Aviv in order to verify the name of his grandfather and to his shock discovered that his father and grandfather had apparently both been kanim. Ordinarily, this would would have been relevant but untroubling information. In this particular case, however, the young man was already married to divorce and according to Jewish law, Kohanima forbidden to marry the divorcees. The discrepancy had apparently occurred because the father of the young man had originally recorded on his marriage certificate that he was a Israel and not a Cohen. and but at some at some later stage the entry had been crossed out and replaced with a with coin. So they took the form and not not filled it out again but put an X through it and wrote Coen next to it. Okay. The young man and his wife then turned to the renowned expert in Jewish law who told them to separate for the meantime until their status could be ascertained. The story then found its way to the ears of Rabbi Noam Amra head which deals primarily with marriage related issues. Rabbi Amram immediately realized how important it was to find a way to permit the couple who have six children to remain married and he researched the issue and formulated a solution. What Rabbi Amram discovered was that the young man's father who had been completely secular had not bothered to clarify his own lineage either for his own edification or for the purpose of informing his children that they might be kim. He also investigated the question according to the conclusions of four rishim rashi rautam and the raan. Based on the above, Rabbi Amram ruled that in accordance with three of the four above mentioned rishonim that the government document did not constitute evidence and it could not be used to prove that the man or his father or grandfather were definitively kanim. Rabbi Amram also noted that even in the opinion of the fourth postake, the document did not constitute evidence as it had been written and then crossed out and rewritten. In addition, there was only one signature attesting the coin status, not the two Adam required by Jewish law. He also noted that there exists some doubt as to whether people generally consider to be kahan today really are kanim as definitive records have often not been kept. Therefore, Rabbi Amram ruled that the young man could return to his family. Okay. So what I want to do today we're there there are similar numerous similar which you wrote that have been addressed to the b okay over the years and they've been published in in a in a volume of from and literally people turn to from all over the world with these kinds of questions and we're just going to learn a few of these chuvot that have been posted them from all over the world together this morning. So if you take turn to page one on the packet here's the first shila comes from Kali Colia the first shila okay is living with a nonjew he's not religiously observant is he allowed to give up his status as a in order that the woman could convert they then therefore get married up. Okay. Is some in such a circumstance is a person allowed to encourage his the woman he's he's in a relationship with to convert in order that they could get married if he's willing to what? Give up his status as a cohen. Is that allowed? So that's the Shila. Now they're going to ask the Shil in greater detail in our city where there's a Jew who lives here who has who has the being a and he's married to this non-Jewish woman according to secular law. The person really would like his wife to what? To convert. who [clears throat] he's not currently observant from what we can ascertain it seems what that his father before him who obviously would be the person he would inherit the the cohen status from was not was also not particular about mitzvah my question is is there a way to clarify whether maybe he's not really a I He's not he himself is not Roy to be a coin and and to also maybe question disqualify his status as a cohane in order that what he could in the end he could marry we could permit him to marry this woman after she converts. Okay. Could I? He says, can we rely on a famous which we're going to look at in greater detail in a few moments. Okay. And can we rely on that? Or is it am I required the the rabbi the local rabbi on the ground is asking or am I required to inform them that there's no hope that I'm not able to help them? How shall I what conduct myself? He asked. Okay. So here's the answer. They gave two a two-part answer. If you take a look according to the laws of Torah because of the status of whether you're considered a cohenically or not, you maintain being a even if what you transgress and do many many extreme transgressions. if his father who married a divorce or a but then that then he meaning he is not really a he's what's called a meaning he's he's considered he's considered from and therefore he would be what not considered if in other words if we could prove that his mother. Okay, again, right now his entire status of being a Cohen is based on the fact that his father before him said he was a Cohen. But if his father also wasn't from and we could prove that his father married a woman that was not permissible to him as a Cohen, then what? Then he would then he's not a Cohen. And therefore we could therefore we could allow him to to to marry to marry this convert. move on. But since we don't know this, therefore what we have to accept the reality of the situation which is right now his reality is what? That he's a coen. It's not and he's not allowed to marry this woman. Okay. So that's the first the first child. Now we're going to go we're going to go across the Atlantic Ocean to Roma Italy to Rome. And this the the backdrop of this child is shalush. A coain who married a woman who must have been either adopted or soon after after she was born was converted as a yald. Okay. As a infant. Okay. What? What's the status of their marriage? Mau what's his status as a cohenim? and the stats of their children as and that's the context of the question now here's the question itself the question is asked okay she was a she was an infant okay he married her though what as she grew up and um accord according to okay and he gave her Akua in front of two Aiden. Okay. And they were and and their wedding was officiated by by an ordained rabbi. Okay. And I think in this case, ordained rabbi means similarly someone who had an orthodoxically umly um or coordination. Okay. Number one, is it permissible to call him up as a co? He's already married to this woman. Bet. Am I required to prevent him from going up to Are we Do we have to tell him he should not serve as a coim to what? For the Okay, I just did that. And what's the status of their children? Are they considerly considered from a status or a rabbitic status? And what's their, you know, what are they entitled to in terms of the you know and and obligations? Are they not? What's their status? Okay. what's the just so the the the the going to answer this question should know wrote there are more details it's not such a simple case so here here are the more details okay he the he met her what this the the co-ain the young man who's a co-en this woman in the local Jewish youth groups okay and assumed that what he knows her his whole sister kids he assumed she was Jewish because she was a footprint which she was Jewish but didn't think to ask that there might be uh might be an extenduating circumstance in terms of heric status mat He was always particular what in the past that he only dated Jewish women. He was always careful. Okay. Again this is not here in Israel. This is in Italy. So all right the second the second point for clarification when he met this young woman he he asked were you are you have you always been Jewish? have you been Jewish since your birth? And she answered that she has been Jewish since she was born because what? She was she was converted immediately after her her her birth. Meaning she was either born born to a non-Jewish woman or or woman who was not yet hakally Jewish and then uh right after she gave birth the baby converted or maybe the two of them converted. We don't know all the full details yet. or she was adopted and and immediately uh taken by this family and immediately converted. She's always thought of herself as a Jew. So there's never any suffic she spoke from a from the depths of her heart. She wasn't lying. Okay? Since as long as she's been alive, she's been a Jew. All right. Three. When the when the husband met the mother of the of the his bride, he thought she's always been Jewish also. Again, he doesn't know her status. She always came was involved in the community and she even came to so I don't know again we don't know if the mother never converted or if the mother also converted eventually but this young man always saw that what the mother was also part of the kil I didn't think that it would be a that he has to question her status okay four and after the the man became aware of the status of his wife Kama Italia. He turned to many rabbis here in Italy to ask them what is there any way to permit them to get married according to Shalom Italia. And since he wasn't able to find a single rabbi in Italy that would allow them to get married, he went to France. Mikublim and he found a a rabbi in France who even though he knew that she was converted he he accepted them and he did the they even wrote the kassa correctly and said what that she's a guillorit the daughter of au okay >> well he I thought he was married to her already then he that that you converted. >> He did. No. No. So, no. This is not that that's not the circumstance. This is this is he they're giving you the the whole circumstance the backstory. Okay. >> He married her knowing. >> Correct. Correct. He married her knowing this. Okay. This Cohen has all in the past always been called up to the Coen Aaliyah and he continues to in the community where his wife grew up and also one of the others in Rome before they got married. This was traditional and now we have to say what that since they got married this couple became in their own house more careful to keep mitzvah. Okay. So what do you do? On one hand it's a real problem. On the other hand you could blow up a a family and a family that seems to be growing in Yiddish kite. So what's the answer? Okay. So here we go. Now it begins by saying what here's the beginning of the chuva even it's prohibited for a coh to be married to a non-Jew to to guar sorry to a convert even if she converted when she was an infant if they he did marry her then what do you have to tell them to do? They need to what? get divorced with the with all the challenges. But the chuva continues that's the introduction. But however, first you have to clarify Hebrew if the status of the family of the husband as crystal clear. Okay. Is it certain that they're a family of If it's true that they can establish that without without a doubt that the family are and that that status is confirmed by people that are shorit okay that can give us that are kosher to give us then what then he has to get divorced okay a vow but Dam answer if it's not really crystal clear. Even if it's a question mark, okay? Even if it's a some question mark, he's not required to divorce her. And if that's if they stay married, he has to what? cease behaving like a coin is and from this point forward he becomes a a in every way shape and form and if that's the case if he does that then what I don't think it affects the status of of of the children if they can clarify that what that that that he was not really a coain then um then they can stay married and that doesn't have any impact on the on the status of the children meaning they would also be Israeli but if his status as a coin is certain as long as he doesn't divorce his wife you can't allow him to continue to to You have to communicate that to them sensitively and and sweetly. Okay. He meaning that he has no status of what? Of a create. You don't give him any special status as a cohen but rather you consider him like what all other now comes the challenging part and there for the same reason what you should prevent him if he remains married to this to this garis from what serving as a co-en for the okay you should find another that is not calling his status as a coin into problematic territory when we call and despite this if he's already served as a coin for pon the pon is still kosher meaning you don't have to tell the kid that it was the family that the because the coin wasn't really what was a problematic cohane that now you have to go back and redeem the kid again. No, it's it's it's okay. Shainu co because what? He is a Cohen. Okay. His only puzzle to function as a co now because why? Because his status of being a cohen has been clarified and he's married to a woman that user him to be married to. And until he divorces her, he cannot function ritualistically as a cohen. But his status is what? That of a coin. Okay. Now he says, He says, "According to the Torah, a woman a guaris is not permissible to be married to a coen." Okay? Even if she did so as an infant and okay and and she therefore is not permitted. Therefore, all their children have to be considered which means they're disqualified. Okay? They do not fall into the category at all. Whether it be to go up to to Aliaten to be called to the Torah or to redeem the firstborn ch but that's now now comes a more difficult part even the daughters. Since the daughters are also okay, they're not allowed to marry meaning, okay, and and therefore their status is more is more limited than even a regular, you know, a regular Israelite because they are the result of a prohibited relationship. They are not allowed to marry Kohan. Okay. And what about what about the the grandchildren the children of the sons? Okay. They are still consider they the next generation they're still considered meaning that they still are not regular Israelites and they're not they're not conning. Okay. Because even they marry a kosher Jew that's permissible to them, it doesn't change that their status in terms of rectifying their status of having come into the world through a an an unpermissible relationship. The know but what about the children of the the grandchildren through the daughters? If again the daughters follow the rules and married regular is not then their children are considered full-fledged is they're notal because why? Because the status of whether you're a cohen or a ley or or isite that comes through the fathers not through the mothers. Okay. So the daughters cannot marry kohanim. The grandchildren to the sons remain kalalim because the fathers were kalalim. The grandchildren of the daughters are you because the father were was Yeah. >> question Re was who does the bon >> I thought I heard that if someone was adopted before certain and becomes a a g a gear before a certain age considered full-fledged Jew. It >> is considered fullfledged Jew but not for marriage of kahuna. That's that's what he's saying. And that's in the covenant. That's why that's why they asked that question even as an infant. Okay. That >> okay. So it's a it's it's part of the challenge the challenging status of of the kahuna. Okay. Now >> what happens here in Israel? We don't have a problem. >> We do. We just saw a story. We just saw a story. This this case is right here in Israel. >> What happens in the United States? We have so >> we're gonna get to the United States in a minute. There's a shot. There's a tumor from the United States in a minute. Okay. So, first before we get to the United States, we're going to see another short one from Zurich Zurich, Switzerland. Okay. Hey, someone who's adopted even after age someone who's adopted even after age three and have a and they convert also consider >> correct but meaning if you're ga which is a whole different suga which we're not going to get into which is a rabbi has been talking about is there are various in terms of what's expected of of a of a of a child that's being adopted versus a someone who's closer to Gil Mitsos that are being adopted in terms A child is at the mercy of their parents. Meaning their child can't all of a sudden start eating if his parents don't keep in the house. Okay. So so the expectations in are are much more lenient towards according to many post maybe not all in terms of a family that wants to adopt a child versus uh uh someone who becomes a a convert later closer to the age of Gilmit or after Gilitud. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, let's just go back to um the this is this this one comes from Zurich Zur Switzerland a Coen who was married to a woman okay who before that had been intimate with a nonjew. We have sitting amongst us in our community a young woman who became a but at one point she was married to a nonjew and they got divorced according to secular law and she has a child from that first marriage. Okay. My question is, is there any any way to permit her to get engaged to marry a and so says the okay we don't know by the way the status here whether she's already in a relationship with someone as a cohen or whether the now that she's become a balachua the the local community is trying to set her up with someone. We don't know the backstory. It doesn't go into that much detail, but the Dian answer very plainly here that there's no sad to permiss it. Now, now we're going to get to a more a longer more evolved case that comes from the United States, comes from New York. Okay. What is the status of a Cohen whose wife had been in a relationship an intimate relationship with a non-Jew in her youth and and also in terms of his status of is already questionable and weak as based on the fact the only one who told him and can attest to him that he is a Cohen is was his father who himself wasn't not only wasn't from but was this rejected Judaism okay wasn't committed at all so here's the shila okay there's a in my community there's a couple that came before me okay this is the rabbi of that community turning to the ben they're 28 years years old that did chuva about a year and a half ago they started doing chuva after they had already been married this young man told me he's a coin he told me that his wife he told me that when his wife was 18 years old he was married she was married to a nonju for a short period of time just two months. He knew this before he married her. But again, he wasn't knowledgeable and didn't know there was not permissible for him as a cohen to marry a woman in a c of that circumstance. My question is how does he know that he's a Cohen? Okay. When I No, sorry. When I asked him how he knows the coin, he said his father answered him that he was one. But this is no real legitimate proof. Why? There's no proof from any other person because all the other close relatives either died or they're not connected to them at all. There's no extended family to confirm the status. The father is not from he even eats on. God forbid. Okay. And that man who used to eat on what? He passed away before this man came to live in this young man came to live in our community. Okay. Before he was born. >> So the grandfather right before he was born the grandfather of of the father of this man. Okay. Okay. Okay. Passed away. And on his says, "This man's father," when I asked him, "How does he know he's a co?" He says, "Because my father told me he's a his grandfather, this young man came to he didn't think you kosher." Okay. Okay. So, he might have come to Okay. But he didn't keep he wasn't he wasn't from he said when I spoke to the father he said what I never heard when I asked him did you ever go to as a he didn't know he didn't even know what that was. Okay. the man who who's living in my community says even though he wasn't religious he always felt that he has a obligation towards Judaism because he knew that he was a made him a leader so to speak uh on some level that now he's coming to me and saying what what do I do what's my status This couple has two young daughters, meaning they became from a year and a half ago, but they've obviously been married for a number of years. They have two young daughters. Obviously, as they become now more knowledgeable from, they're very very concerned about the the circumstances they find themselves in. Obviously is a very very pressing and trying extenduating circumstance and and and situation in order to save the life of this family. Okay. Is it permissible to rely on the famous that wrote If the person doesn't have anyone who's from who can attest to what his status as a okay that can give a prop acceptable aid to his status as a cohen then we then what in such circumstances we can we can say he's not really a cohen that's the famous which by the way you can see in the footnotes on the side you can see where that comes from but okay So, right back. So, let's go back to Chuva. Um, there's one more important point I need to I need to share with the Dianim. I just met this couple [clears throat] a month ago. They're just beginning their journey, okay, to learn more and more about keeping mitzvah. I have no idea if it's going to have a negative impact on their commitment and their trajectory in terms of their commitment to Jewish life. If I tell them what that they have to get divorced, They only we only came to be aware of this because what in in sch smoozing with another woman in the community she told the the the woman the the the wife in this case told another woman in the community her life story and when this detail became revealed that woman you know very kindly said you know it's important that you go speak to the rabbi about this about this circumstance And that therefore at this time I'm turning to you the guidance in this difficult circumstance. Is it permissible for me to rely on the Hector of Mosha Feinstein? Okay. And tell him he's not really a Cohen. And therefore it's permissal for him to stay with his wife and if that's true is he really become a Israel in every way sension of the form that he can go to funerals he doesn't have to he's no longer a co in any way shape or form what's his status okay so here's the answer Okay. Okay. Telephone key. And after we have the clarification on the telephone that that uh from you that um what that what shall oa that it's only the father of the person asking the shila who can attest to the fact that he is a cohen that their stat their family are kohanim said that a father didn't come to never was called to the Torah as a coin. He never went to he always conducted himself as someone who completely rejects Yadis. Even his grandfather, okay, never went up to the Torah as a never never, okay, the the the fact what's written on the on the grandfather is what based on the instructions of the father of this young man. Okay. based on everything that we were was outlined in your question and based on the clarifications that we shared above that you communicated when we spoke Sha Mosha Feinstein Mosha Abenezar okay okay and he says we it appears to us that what you absolutely in this case can re rely on the the leniency of Mosha Feinstein the famous soccer brought in the igros Moshe and allow allow this couple to continue to be together that he does not really have a a full-fledged Khazaka as being a co-en and therefore we should not we do not have to blow up this family and rather we can encourage this family to continue to grow and continue to seek holiness. Now just to bring this all together, we we began first of all a very interesting child as a Jewish when we began by saying that one of the reason why we talked about Kahuna this week is because last week we talked about Kaneka and how during Khan we all become Kanim. So one of the one of the interesting things here is that in the last cha what was one of the what was one of the determining factors in terms of why they could rely on the kula because this family is re-engaging collectively to become baluva. They're going up in sanctity maodes as we know which is really what khanaka is truly all about. So I thought this is just an interesting set of chuas and something different a little bit different to do this morning. We'll be back with Masters of Jewish Thought next week, but I just thought I saw this in my files this obviously I've given this year in the past, but I saw this this week. I thought this might be something a little bit of a different twist to do and I see from the faces that people enjoyed it and uh it was a pleasure learning together this morning. content. It's Shabas.