עברית
Halachot and Customs
Who Can a Cohen Marry?
Question
Shalom and greetings to the honorable Rabbi! I would like to know if a Cohen can marry an Israelite woman? Can he marry a non-virgin? And who is he not allowed to marry? There is simply someone I am corresponding with who says that her father saw in the Gemara that a Cohen cannot marry an Israelite because it causes infertility, divorce, and various other issues. Thank you very much for all your help.
Answer
Greetings,
1. It is permitted for a Cohen to marry a Jewish woman if she observes the Torah and mitzvot and walks in the ways of righteousness (Responsa Yechave Da'at, Part 5, Siman 61, beginning with "And regarding").
2. If she is not a virgin because she had relations with a non-Jew or a Jew whom it is prohibited to marry due to a negative commandment or a positive commandment, or with a Jew to whom she is forbidden due to incest, it is forbidden for the Cohen to marry her. However, if she had relations with a Jew who does not fall under these prohibitions, she is permitted to the Cohen (Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, Siman 6, Paragraph 8. And that is when we only know from her own words that she had relations; it can be said that she is trustworthy to say it was with a Jew and not a non-Jew, see Responsa Teshuvot VeHanhagot, Part 1, Siman 360, Part 3, Siman 490, Part 4, Siman 280, and Part 6, Siman 250. However, if it is known that she had relations without her statement, then it requires two majorities to permit her to a Cohen as explained in Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, Paragraph 17).
3. It is forbidden for a Cohen to marry a divorced woman and a chalalah (one born to a Cohen and a woman who is ineligible to marry a Cohen) (Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, there, Paragraph 1). Likewise, it is forbidden for him to marry a convert (there, Paragraph 8).
4. It is forbidden for a Cohen to marry a woman whose father is a non-Jew (see Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, Siman 4, Paragraphs 5, 19, and Siman 7, Paragraph 17. And see also Responsa Olat Yitzchak, Part 3, Siman 263, and it should be instructed even to the Yemenite custom).
Wishing you much success,
Hillel Meirs
