Kiddushin, Daf Ayin Zayin, Part 1
Introduction
If a woman who is prohibited to a priest (a divorcee or a convert) has relations with a priest, she becomes a halalah , or a profaned woman. Her male child from such a union is a halal . A priest may not marry a halalah , as we learned in the first mishnah of this chapter.
The word halal or halalah comes from Leviticus 21:7 where it states, [He shall not take] a harlot (zonah) or a halalah. While JPS translates this word as describing the harlot a woman defiled by harlotry , the rabbis understand the vav between harlot and halalah to be conjunctive. Halalah is not a description of the harlot but a woman of a different category.
The mishnah compares the rules for converts with those for the halal and halalah. A priest cannot marry a convert, as it says in Ezekiel 44:22, They may marry only virgins of the stock of the House of Israel.
מתני׳ בת חלל זכר פסולה מן הכהונה לעולם
The daughter of a male halal is unfit for the priesthood for all time.
The daughter of a male halal is a halalah. She may not marry a priest. Furthermore, the daughter of the son of a halal is also a halalah. The flaw of being a halal is passed down through the sons and therefore the daughter of any subsequent son of one of these halalim is herself a halalah and prohibited from marrying a priest.
ישראל שנשא חללה בתו כשירה לכהונה
If an Israelite marries a halalah, his daughter is fit for the priesthood.
As stated above, being a halal is not passed down through the mother but through the father. Therefore the daughter of an Israelite male and a halalah is permitted to marry a priest.
חלל שנשא בת ישראל בתו פסולה לכהונה
If a halal marries the daughter of an Israelite, his daughter is unfit for the priesthood.
This section repeats the rule which we learned above. It serves as introduction to what follows.
רבי יהודה אומר בת גר זכר כבת חלל זכר
Rabbi Judah says: the daughter of a male convert is as the daughter of a male halal.
Just as halalot (the plural of halalah) cannot marry priests, so too female converts may not marry priests. Rabbi Judah adds that just as the descent of halalot is determined by the father, so too is the descent of the convert. The daughter of a male convert may not marry a priest. According to Rabbi Judah if an Israelite male married a female convert, their daughter could marry a priest.
רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר ישראל שנשא גיורת בתו כשירה לכהונה וגר שנשא בת ישראל בתו כשירה לכהונה אבל גר שנשא גיורת בתו פסולה לכהונה אחד גר ואחד עבדים משוחררים אפי’ עד י’ דורות עד שתהא אמו מישראל
Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: if an Israelite marries a female convert, his daughter is fit for the priesthood, and if a male convert marries the daughter of an Israelite, his daughter is fit for the priesthood. But if a male convert marries a female convert, his daughter is unfit for the priesthood. [The same law applies to] a convert as to freed slaves, even for ten generations, [his daughter is unfit] unless his mother is of Israelite stock.
Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob goes one step further than R. Judah. As long as one of the parents is of Israelite lineage, the daughter may marry a priest. Only if both parents are converts is the female child forbidden from marrying a priest. The laws regarding the lineage of freed slaves are the same as those regarding converts. The daughter is unfit unless the mother, and also the father are of Israelite stock. [Note that the mishnah says his mother, but since we are referring to which daughters may marry priests, other versions read their mother. Also, although the mishnah only says mother it must also mean father, since even Rabbi Judah says that if the father is an Israelite, his daughter is fit to marry a priest.]
ר’ יוסי אומר אף גר שנשא גיורת בתו כשירה לכהונה
Rabbi Yose says: even if a male convert marries a female convert, his daughter is fit for the priesthood.
Rabbi Yose s opinion is that the only type of convert prohibited from marrying a priest is the convert herself. Children of converts, even if both parents are converts, are allowed to marry priests.
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