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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
a sin. Why is this so? Why not say that the terumah was a mistake,
for had he known the fruits were ritually unclean, he would not have
separated from them? In this way, we could spare him the violation
of a Torah prohibition. The Jerusalem Talmud answers, that were we
to rule that the terumah is invalid, he would then have violated the
even more stringent prohibition of eating tevel (untithed produce). It
is preferable to rule that he violated the less stringent prohibition of
using ritually unclean produce as terumah for pure produce.
The same applies to the marriage band. Although he paid the price
of a gold ring and received a copper one, we say that he was satisfied
with it, so as not to rule that he was guilty of living with a woman
without proper kiddushin.
The same applies if he married a woman on the presumption that
she is a virgin. Although he discovered that she was not a virgin,
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
transaction.
Specifically, in our case, there is further reason to claim that the
marriage was not a mistaken transaction. Think of it this way: A
man marries a woman and discovers, fifteen years later, that she has
multiple sclerosis. Do we say that the original marriage transaction
was mistaken because the illness was probably present in her body
fifteen years back?! If so, no Jewish woman would remain halachically
married! There are many women who were presumed healthy at the
time of marriage and diagnosed with illnesses some years later. These
illnesses were likely to have been present even before their marriage.
Do we say that marriage is invalidated? If a woman, for example is
diagnosed with cancer five years after her marriage, do we say that
the marriage was a mistake and invalid retroactively? The answer, of
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.
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-
48 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
people did not know him, and to conceal his origins, or to marry a
Jewish girl who, like him, was born to a Jewish mother and a gentile
father. The question arises: How could Rav Yehudah advise him to
deceive a Jewish girl by concealing his origins?
This question was addressed by the Kehilas Yaakov (Yevamos 44),
and his answer is that even though a girl would not initially agree
to the match, once they are already married and attached to the
each other by a bond of love, one can assume that she will not seek
a divorce due to her husband’s origins. Divorce is difficult, and who
knows if she would find another mate? Therefore, since, bedieved, she
would accept him once married, the fact that he did not reveal his
origins is not considered deception.
It seems that this would be the halacha in our case as well. If some-
one concealed a defect for which the woman would not seek a divorce
once married, the marriage is not considered a mistaken transaction.
1 AnsweR to Question 3
In Responsa Teshuvos V’hanhagos (Vol. 2 #624) it says that if an illness
was completely healed, and expert physicians assure us that there are
no traces left of the illness, and there is no concern about the future,
then there is a difference between a man and a woman. For a man,
one does not have to reveal the illness at all once he is completely
cured. For a woman, on the other hand, one must reckon with the fact
that childbirth can cause the disease to return. Therefore, if the expert
physician says that the illness was due to a specific reason and there
is no chance that the illness will return even close to childbirth, then
one need not reveal the illness once the woman is completely healthy.
If there is a chance that the illness will return during childbirth, then
one must reveal it.
1 AnsweR to Question 4
Before we answer this question, let us illustrate the point with a
Groom Sufers from Mental Illness 2 21
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