Faith
Is There a Remedy for a Mamzer?
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi.
There is a subject that has piqued my curiosity a bit, and I would be glad to ask a few questions about a mamzer.
Is there a remedy for a person who was born a mamzer?
And is there any way today to know who is a mamzer and who is not?
And what should a man/woman do who married a mamzer and had children, and only discovered this after a number of years?
Answer
Hello and blessings,
A mamzer is forbidden forever to marry a Jewish woman, and vice versa, and there is no way to permit this. He is permitted only to a convert or to a mamzeret, but his children will also be mamzerim.
He does not need any remedy, because he did not commit any sin.
Any person who is not known to be a mamzer has the presumption of fitness, and there is no basis for concern about mamzerut.
Anyone who did not know that he was a mamzer and after the marriage it became known to him is required to divorce immediately. The sons and daughters are forbidden to enter the congregation, and they are mamzerim.
With blessings,
Binyamin Shmueli
