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that if one unintentionally separates terumah using impure produce his poor lineage? Rav Yehudah advised him to travel to a place where
for pure produce, the terumah is valid, although he has committed people did not know him, and to conceal his origins, or to marry a
a sin. Why is this so? Why not say that the terumah was a mistake, Jewish girl who, like him, was born to a Jewish mother and a gentile
for had he known the fruits were ritually unclean, he would not have father. The question arises: How could Rav Yehudah advise him to
separated from them? In this way, we could spare him the violation deceive a Jewish girl by concealing his origins?
of a Torah prohibition. The Jerusalem Talmud answers, that were we This question was addressed by the Kehilas Yaakov (Yevamos 44),
to rule that the terumah is invalid, he would then have violated the and his answer is that even though a girl would not initially agree
even more stringent prohibition of eating tevel (untithed produce). It to the match, once they are already married and attached to the
is preferable to rule that he violated the less stringent prohibition of each other by a bond of love, one can assume that she will not seek
using ritually unclean produce as terumah for pure produce. a divorce due to her husband’s origins. Divorce is difficult, and who
The same applies to the marriage band. Although he paid the price knows if she would find another mate? Therefore, since, bedieved, she
of a gold ring and received a copper one, we say that he was satisfied would accept him once married, the fact that he did not reveal his
with it, so as not to rule that he was guilty of living with a woman origins is not considered deception.
without proper kiddushin. It seems that this would be the halacha in our case as well. If some-
The same applies if he married a woman on the presumption that one concealed a defect for which the woman would not seek a divorce
she is a virgin. Although he discovered that she was not a virgin, once married, the marriage is not considered a mistaken transaction.
nevertheless, since he lived with her for a long time, we rule that he
forgave this blemish, so as not to classify their marriage as a mistaken 1 AnsweR to Question 3
transaction.
Specifically, in our case, there is further reason to claim that the In Responsa Teshuvos V’hanhagos (Vol. 2 #624) it says that if an illness
marriage was not a mistaken transaction. Think of it this way: A was completely healed, and expert physicians assure us that there are
man marries a woman and discovers, fifteen years later, that she has no traces left of the illness, and there is no concern about the future,
multiple sclerosis. Do we say that the original marriage transaction then there is a difference between a man and a woman. For a man,
was mistaken because the illness was probably present in her body one does not have to reveal the illness at all once he is completely
fifteen years back?! If so, no Jewish woman would remain halachically cured. For a woman, on the other hand, one must reckon with the fact
married! There are many women who were presumed healthy at the that childbirth can cause the disease to return. Therefore, if the expert
time of marriage and diagnosed with illnesses some years later. These physician says that the illness was due to a specific reason and there
illnesses were likely to have been present even before their marriage. is no chance that the illness will return even close to childbirth, then
Do we say that marriage is invalidated? If a woman, for example is one need not reveal the illness once the woman is completely healthy.
diagnosed with cancer five years after her marriage, do we say that If there is a chance that the illness will return during childbirth, then
the marriage was a mistake and invalid retroactively? The answer, of one must reveal it.
course, is that since the woman had a presumption of being healthy,
there is no deception on her part, and it is not a mistaken transaction. 1 AnsweR to Question 4
It says in Tractate Berachos (28a): “Let a man use a cup of honor for
one day, even if it breaks the next day. If it breaks, then so be it.” Like- Before we answer this question, let us illustrate the point with a

48 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Groom Sufers from Mental Illness 2 21

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