One Night Stand - Child’s Status
Question:
My daughter got pregnant accidentally after a promiscuous period of one-night stands. She does not know who the father is. Will our grandchild be a 'bastard' according to Jewish law ?
Answer:
The grandchild’s status will be questionable under Jewish law . Where a single mother does not know who the father is or refuses to declare it, the child will be a 'Shtoki' (literally 'silenced'). Because only his mother is known and his father’s identity is not, his father could be a 'Mamzer' or bastard/illegitimate . Accordingly, a 'Sthoki is a questionable bastard in Jewish law. However, there is a chance that he/she will be regarded as legitimate with normal status if most of the people from the mother’s neighbourhood who know her are legitimate.
A 'Mamzer' can only marry another 'Mamzer' or a converted Jew in a Jewish religious ceremony. Under Jewish law a 'Mamzer'cannot marry a Jew of ordinary status or a Cohen. Alternatives do exist for a 'Mamzer'- civil marriage abroad to anyone regardless of their status or cohabitation.
Unmarried Jewish Parents- Child 'bastard' ?
Question:
My boyfriend and I live together but have not got married. We are secular Jews. My boyfriend is against marriage as an institution. I want to be a mother. My family keep nagging us to get married, saying that if we don’t, our child will be a 'bastard' according to Jewish law. Is this correct ?
Answer:
No! Where a Jewish couple have the legal capacity to marry according to Jewish law , but choose not to, their children are legitimate Jews and have the same status of children of Jews married in a traditional religious ceremony.
What distinguishes children born to unmarried Jewish parents from bastards or 'Mamzer'im' in Hebrew is the legal capacity of their parents to marry. The parents of 'Mamzer'im lack the legal capacity to marry under Jewish law which forbids their union.
Mamzer'im have inferior status under Jewish law and can only marry other Mamzer'im or converts in a religious ceremony. They can marry who they wish in a civil marriage ceremony.
Status of Child Born To Married Woman And Lover
Question:
What is the status under Jewish law of a child born to a married woman – if the father is not her husband but her lover?
Answer:
If the married woman and the lover admit the child is theirs and the husband does not deny this, then it will be a 'Mamzer' or 'bastard' . This inferior status means that the child will only be able to marry another bastard according to Jewish law. It does not matter if the married woman later divorces her husband and marries her lover – that child born outside of wedlock will remain a bastard.
According to Jewish religious law deriving from the bible the same woman and her lover are forbidden from marrying one another. The only option for a couple like this is to bypass the problem by opting for a civil marriage, or simply cohabiting.
Status of Children of Cohen and Divorcee Under Jewish Law
Question:
I am a Cohen. My son married a Jew abroad, a divorcee (he did not know she was divorced ). What does that make our granddaughter ?
Answer:
Under Jewish law a child , like your granddaughter , who was born to Jewish parents whose union was forbidden (for example a Cohen and a divorcee or convert), but whose wedding ceremony was conducted properly, will inherit the status of the inferior parent. She will have the status of a “Hallala” (literally “vacuum”).When this child, like your granddaughter, wishes to marry she can marry an Jew with ordinary status, or a divorcee, but not a Cohen.
In Jewish law status is inherited through the male line. Thus if a female “Hallala” (like your granddaughter) marries an ordinary Jew, the offspring would inherit the son-in-law’s status (its father’s status). If they, in turn, had a baby girl,she could grown up and marry an ordinary Jew. Their subsequent child would have ordinary status and could, therefore, marry an ordinary Jew or even a Cohen.
If a female Hallala marries an ordinary Jew but gives birth to a son he will have the status of an ordinary Jew and can marry an ordinary Jewish woman or a divorcee or a convert.
Status Of Child Born Out of Incest
Question:
What status will a child born as a result of an incestuous relationship between brother and sister have under Jewish law ?
Answer:
The child will have the inferior status of a "'Mamzer'" or bastard as it is the result of a forbidden union. Intimate relations between brother and sister are forbidden in the bible and are one of the strictest prohibitions, punishable by death.
Status of Child Born After Rape
Question:
What status will a child born as a result of a married woman being raped have according to Jewish law ?
Answer:
The child will have the inferior status of a 'Mamzer' or bastard as it is the result of a forbidden union.
Status of Child Whose Parents Are Unknown
Question:
What status will a child whose parents are unknown have in Jewish Law ?
Answer:
Under Jewish Law a child who is found or ‘ collected from the market’ without anyone knowing who his mother and father are will have the status of ‘Assufi’ (‘collected’). This status contrasts with the status of ‘Sthoki’(literally ‘silenced'), given to a child born to an unmarried Jewish woman where the identity of the father is unknown .
If the ‘Assufi’ was found in a Jewish neighbourhood he will be regarded as a ‘doubtful 'Mamzer'/'bastard’. This is because it appears that he is Jewish, yet it is possible that one of his parents was a bastard. Therefore, an ‘Assufi’ cannot marry an ordinary Jewess, for fear that he is a bastard, and cannot marry a bastard because of the possibility that he has ordinary status. He has only one choice, to marry a woman of similar status.
The status of an ‘Assufi’ can become even more complicated if he was found in or near a city of a mixed religious population. He will then not only become a ‘doubtful bastard’ but may also be a non-Jewish foreigner.
Other factors influencing an ‘Asufi’s’ status are the circumstances in which he was abandoned. If he was abandoned to die , the legal assumption under Jewish law is that he is a ‘doubtful bastard’, but if he was not abandoned for example, during a pogrom or war – then the legal assumption is that he was born to ordinary Jewish parents and there will be no doubt about his status.
Cohen Can Marry Non-Virgin Who Is Neither Convert or Divorcee
Question:
Is there anything in Jewish law to prevent a ‘Cohen’ marrying a woman who is not a virgin ?
Answer:
No ! While there is a halachic ban on a Cohen marrying a divorcee or a convert to Judaism, there is nothing preventing him from wedding a woman who is not a virgin, provided she does not also fall into this prohibited category.
Divorcee Pregnant From Ex-Brother in Law – Status of Baby
Question::
Six months after my divorce I got pregnant from my ex-brother-in-law. If there is a declaration that he is the father, either by consent or following a plea, will this result in my child being declared a “'Mamzer'” under Jewish law ?
Answer:
No. Providing the mother got pregnant from her ex-brother-in-law after she was divorced then her baby will have normal status under Jewish law. When a woman divorces she is warned by the rabbinical court that she must avoid getting pregnant for three months from the date of her divorce so as to erase all possibility of any child being born being a ‘'Mamzer'’(bastard) .
Child Born to Single Jewess From Unknown Jewish Sperm Donor
Question:
I am single and have just had a baby daughter by artificial insemination from donor sperm. All I know about the man who donated the sperm is that he is Jewish. Will the fact that she is born from donor sperm stop her from getting married according to Jewish law when she grows up?
Answer:
No ! According to Jewish law only someone is proved to be a bastard (“'Mamzer'”) is prevented from marrying a Jew of ordinary status. Where there is a doubt about the legitimacy of the woman wishing to marry, without real proof to counter the assumption that she is legitimate, she will not be prevented from marrying a Jew of ordinary status under Jewish law.
Adopted Child Has Full Freedom To Marry Under Jewish Law
Question:
Is a person who has been adopted restricted in any way in terms of marriage, under Jewish law ?
Answer:
No ! The fact that a child has been adopted does not influence his or her capacity to marriage under Jewish Law, as long as he is Jewish. It does not matter whether he was born Jewish or underwent conversion as a child.
Status of Child Born To Ex-Wife’s Sister
Question:
What status will a child born as a result of sex between a divorced man and his ex-wife’s Sister under Jewish law ?
Answer:
The child will have the inferior status of a 'Mamzer' or bastard as it is the result of a forbidden union. Intimate relations between the two parties is forbidden in the bible.
Rabbinate Refrains From Calling Children ‘Bastards’
Question:
To what extent will the rabbinical court refrain from declaring minors as ‘bastards’ ?
Answer:
Rabbinical Courts in general try to refrain from tainting children with the label ‘bastard’ which has negative implications in Jewish law.
For example, in one case which reached the Greater Rabbinical Court, a couple, who had been married for 27 years had five children, although it was later discovered in an examination conducted in hospital that the husband had no testicles, could produce no sperm and never had the ability to procreate. Despite this, the rabbinical court refrained from declaring the five children bastards and found a way of declaring them to have full status as Jews.
In another case' a wife had lived apart from her husband for 10 years , living with a another man. She had a 7 year old child but the rabbinical court refused to declare the child a ‘bastard’, saying that because the mother was still married during her pregnancy, and her husband lived in the same city, it was possible that she was the latter’s daughter.
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