Q&A: Marriage and Ketubah Claims
Marriage and Ketubah Claims
Question
Hello, I have several questions.
A) What is the law regarding a woman injured by wood blow (a woman who does not have virginity signs, but not due to intercourse) marrying a kohen (nowadays or at any time)?
B) Does the concept of mistaken transaction apply in a case where a kohen married a perfectly fine virgin, and it turned out that he did not see blood? Is her claim that she is a virgin whose hymen was broken by injury presumed credible (there are no witnesses to seclusion with another man before the wedding), correct?
C) Is the law of a woman injured by wood blow only in a case of coercion? What if, for example, the woman became religious and claims that she did not have intercourse beforehand, but she has no hymen because of self-use, etc. (understand? An act of stimulation, I think that is what it is called in Rashi, only here the question is about women.) Thank you very much.
Answer
A. A woman injured in this way is permitted to a kohen. Regarding a High Priest, there is a dispute (see Yevamot 59b-60a, and in Tosafot HaRosh and Ran there. Maimonides prohibits it).
B. A kohen is no different from an ordinary Jew in this respect. Perhaps one could discuss a High Priest, and with regard to him there is definitely room for a claim of mistaken transaction.
C. I do not think there is a difference. Perhaps one could distinguish the case because here an act was done (see the commentators in Yevamot there), but simply speaking, there is no difference.