I am wondering what the process is to be eligible to marry a kohen. I converted a few years ago and I believe my heritage is Jewish but i have not completed my family history.
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@closers, this question has very few details. – msh210 Nov 02 '14 at 19:56
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The only way would be to get absolute proof that you are really Jewish. You would have to be able to document (with proof that a bais din can accept) that every woman in the female line (mother to daughter) was Jewish with no gaps.
That is, there needs to be absolute proof that each woman in the chain is indeed the daughter of the preceding woman in the chain as well as absolute proof that the first woman in the chain was Jewish.
For example, if one of the mothers did not have a birth record, then she could perhaps have been the child of a first marriage or adopted. Since we no longer have the proof, then we cannot continue down the chain.
If one of the women had married a Jew, divorced (without a get), and then had a child by a different man, that child would be a mamzer. This is because the first marriage (according to Jewish law) would not have been ended and the children of the second "marriage" are children of a married woman by a man who is not her husband. tThis would disqualify all the following women in the chain.
Can a Kohen Marry a Woman with a Non-Jewish Father? also points out that a kohen cannot marry a woman with a nonJewish father, though if he has done so he is not required to divorce her.
sabbahillel
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1Don't you just have to prove that one of the women in the female line was Jewish? – Daniel Nov 02 '14 at 15:08
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1@Scimonster how do you get a gap? That is, what causes a woman born of a Jewish mother to not herself be Jewish? If one's mother completely rejected Judaism and didn't even tell her kids, their Jewish maternal grandmother still makes them Jewish. – Monica Cellio Nov 02 '14 at 15:25
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@MonicaCellio Lost records. It could be you thought that your grandmothers 5 generations back were all Jewish, but it turned out that there was a break in the matrilineal lineage. – Scimonster Nov 02 '14 at 15:26
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1@Scimonster If my grandmother 8 generations back was Jewish, how could the one 5 generations back not be Jewish? If I can prove indisputably that one of my grandmothers was Jewish, then it is automatic that all the ones that follow her were Jewish. – Daniel Nov 02 '14 at 15:29
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@Daniel One great-great-grandmother doesn't mean anything, if you don't know for certain that it was only girls between them, or if one of them was the mother of a father somewhere up the line. – MTL Nov 02 '14 at 15:33
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@Daniel the break in the record could be that the birth records have been lost. As a result, what was thought to be the grandmother 5 generations back could have be the child of a first marriage or adopeted – sabbahillel Nov 02 '14 at 15:35
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@Shokhet Then you haven't proven that even one woman in the female line was Jewish – Daniel Nov 02 '14 at 15:36
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@Daniel That is the point of records with no gaps. You have to prove the case at each generation before you can continue to the next one. – sabbahillel Nov 02 '14 at 15:46
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@sabbahillel If there is a gap, then the person that you proved is Jewish is not your mother's mother's ... mother. Therefore, you haven't proven that even one of the women in your maternal line is Jewish. If you know your maternal line and you know that one of the women in the line is Jewish, then the rest are Jewish. If you don't know what your maternal line is, you first have to figure it out and then prove that one of them is Jewish. – Daniel Nov 02 '14 at 15:53
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@Daniel I think that is the point that I was trying to make. I looked at it from the point of proving that the woman you think started the line was Jewish and then proving each subsequent one in the line was her dauhgter. You spoke of first proving each one going back through the generations until you reach one that you can prove is Jewish. Both mean the same thing. – sabbahillel Nov 02 '14 at 15:58
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1@sabbahillel If that's what you meant, then we're saying the same thing, but that's not what you wrote in your answer. Your answer implies that you know who your mother-daughter chain is and you have to do find some active proof that each and every one of them was Jewish. Of course, the mother-daughter chain implies Jewishness, but your phrasing of no gaps makes it seem like there could be a non-Jew in the chain of mother-daughter from a Jew. – Daniel Nov 02 '14 at 16:02
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Also relevant is how reliable the tradition of lineage of the "kohen" in question, i.e., we may not be as strict in our requirements of proof on the woman's line if his yichus is also questionable. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) – Loewian Nov 02 '14 at 16:14
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@sabbahillel I'm stunned that this whole long discussion has altogether neglected the biggest question: How far back does she have to prove her lineage? Since her family was in the Old Country? Since Sinai? Since Avraham Avinu? ... If you know, please also answer here: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/66017/how-far-must-one-be-able-to-trace-ones-jewish-lineage – SAH Oct 13 '16 at 07:57
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@SAH The answer there points out that once we see anyone who has been definitely accepted (such as with a valid kesuvah) then we do not have to go back further. It is only as long as there is a doubt (such as with reform) that we have to go back more. The point was that we need to find the first one that was definitely Jewish and go to all of the descendants with proof. – sabbahillel Oct 13 '16 at 13:45
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@sabbahillel By that token, how could anyone in the line be "definitely Jewish"? – SAH Oct 13 '16 at 20:25
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1@SAH for example a valid kesuvah shows that the couple were determined to be Jewish and married. Thus, their children (including the daughter who is next in the line) are Jewish. It then continues down. For example, the proof that my children are Jewish was the kesuvah of my wife and myself (showing that the rav who married us checked our parents). – sabbahillel Oct 13 '16 at 22:39
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