Kosher Witnesses: Difference between revisions

# The halacha is that the first four categories described above are relatives and may not testify together. There is a dispute if the fifth category is considered a relative, Sephardim holding it isn't and Ashkenazim holding it is<ref>Rabbenu Tam (Bava Batra 129a s.v. iy) holds that a great grandfather is disqualified from testifying about his great grandson and the Rif (Bava Batra 56b) and Rambam (Edut 13:4) argue that it is permitted. Shulchan Aruch CM 33:2 quotes the Rambam as the primary opinion but also cites Rabbenu Tam and the Rama says that Ashkenazim hold like Rabbenu Tam. </ref>, and the sixth category certainly isn't a relative. <ref>Shulchan Aruch CM 33:2. The source for relatives being disqualified to testify against one another or together according to Gemara Sanhedrin 27b is the pasuk "לא יומתו אבות על בנים" (Devarim 24:16). The Sama 33:5 infers from the Rama that the disqualification of all relatives is biblical with the exception of someone of one generation with someone two generations apart (shlishi b'rishon). The Rama 33:2 writes that some understood the Rambam to mean that maternal relatives are only rabbinic, however, the Shach 33:1 argues at length with this opinion and says everyone agrees that maternal relatives are biblically disqualified from testimony.</ref>

# Therefore, a father and child, brother and sibling, husband and wife, uncle and nephew, grandfather and grandchild, and first cousin are all relatives who may not testify about one another.<ref>Shulchan Aruch CM 33:2</ref>

[[Image:Relatives_by_marriage.png|right|450px]]

# Anyone who is disqualified to testify about a man is also disqualified to testify about his wife. Inversely, anyone who is disqualified to testify against a woman is also disqualified to testify against her husband.<ref>Gemara Sanhedrin 28b, Shulchan Aruch CM 33:3</ref> However, regarding the relationships between someone of one generation with someone two generations apart (rishon b'shelishi) if the person is only a relative through marriage he is fit to testify against him.<ref>Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 3:6 asks whether Moshe Rabbenu would have been able to testify about the wife of pinchas and Rabbi Yochanan answers that it is permitted. From here the Rosh (responsa 57:3) learns that a relative two generations apart through marriage is permitted to testify. Shulchan Aruch 33:3 codifies this for the opinion of Rabbenu Tam.</ref>

# Relatives cannot be eidim for the chosson and kallah nor can the eidim be related to each other. <ref> There is a discussion as to which type of relatives cannot serve as eidim. The psak is that although strictly speaking only a rishon be’rishon, a sheni be’sheni, or a shlishi beshlishi cannot serve as eidim, we are machmir that even a revi’i berevi’i should not serve as eidim. These terms describe how many generations removed the relation is. For example, a rishon berishon are siblings because their parents are one generation above them and are the cause of the relation between them. A sheni besheni are first cousins, because their grandparents are the common ancestor, who are the source of their relation. So we say that shlishi beshlishi is not permitted to be eidim together, which are three generations removed from the source of their relation, and we are machmir to not even allow revi’i berevi’i to be eidim together, which are four generations removed from the source of their relation. Even if someone married into the family and is not related by blood, they are still not permitted to serve as eidim for the chasan and kallah. See [http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/820596/Rabbi_Aryeh_Lebowitz/From_The_Rabbi's_Desk_-_Wedding_Questions Wedding Questions<nowiki>]</nowiki>] by Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz </ref>  

==Sources==

<references/>