I was reading that there are some poskim in history, including R. Moshe Feinstein who held that a child of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father was a goy unless brought up Jewish! That would mean that according to them all the Jews today with non-Jewish fathers are goyim, and their descendants are goyim. Ironically, Rambam discusses the case of a Jew and a nochris but not the case of a Jewish woman and a goy. I never knew there was a shita (or churmra) that held that yichus is not automatically transferred by the mother.
David Goldman, USA
1) The Chochmas Shlomo (printed beneath the Maharsha), by the Maharshal, on Tosfos to Yevamos 16b, DH Amorai, writes that if the father is a Nochri and the mother is Jewish, "when he behaves like an Akum he is considered like the other Akum and almost does not possess the Din of a Yisrael. He is Kosher only if he converts."
2) The Maharsha there writes that it is a perplexing thing to say that just because he behaves like an Akum he should actually be considered an Akum, such that if he marries a Yisraelis, the marriage should have no validity. The Maharsha writes that since his status follows that of his mother, we say that he is a Yisrael apostate, but not an Akum. Even though he behaves like an Akum, if he marries a Jewess, we must be stringent and be concerned that the marriage is valid.
3) See also the Pischei Teshuvah (Shulchan Aruch, Even ha'Ezer 4:1) in the name of the Ya'aros Devash by Rav Yehonasan Eibeshitz, who cites the dispute in Yevamos 45a about whether the child of an Akum father and Yisrael mother is a Mamzer or is Kosher. The Ya'aros Devash writes that according to the opinion that the child is Kosher, this means he is a Kosher Akum.
The question now arises, what status did Daryavesh (Darius), the king of Persia, possess? He was the son of Queen Esther and Achashverosh. Rav Yehonsan Eibeshitz writes that Daryavesh had the status of a Mamzer.
4) However, it appears from the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 4a (11 lines from the top of the page) that Daryavesh was an Akum. Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt'l said in his Shi'urim on Maseches Rosh Hashanah that this is a support for the opinion of the Maharshal.
5) Rav Moshe Feinstein writes (Igros Moshe, Orach Chayim 2:73) that it is obvious that according to most Rishonim, whom the Halachah follows, if the mother is Jewish and the father is an Akum, the child is Jewish, regardless of how the child is raised.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom
Thank you. I have seen a reference to Even Ha'Ezer 1:8 of Igros Moshe on this issue, but have not found the volume. I have seen it brought that he states there that in a mixed marriage of a Jewish mother the child is an actual goy.
In any case, I find it amazing that any posek would ever consider a child born of a Jewish mother to be a goy. I have never heard of this, and always thought it was a basic principle in Yiddishkeit that yichus always follows the mother (aside from tribal affiliation, kehuna).
However, perhaps the meaning of the Maharshal when he uses the term "like a nochri," means that the person cannot be a witness, etc. But then does the Maharshal mean that the person can do melachos for a Jew on shabbos?! That he is patur from the mitzvos? Does the Maharshal go that far?!
In other words, does the Maharshal and others actually deny that such a person is an actual Jew, or that he cannot be included in a minyan, testimony, etc. as is the question raised (and discussed by the Chazon Ish) whether such person is merely a tinok shenishba.
About Daryavesh, how could he have the din of a goy since CERTAINLY Esther Hamalka raised him as a Jew EVEN if he was actually the child of a shed (according to the Zohar)?? And how could he be a mamzer according to R. Yonasan if children born to goyish fathers and Jewish mothers do not have that din of mamzer according to the gemara??
1) The Piskei Tosfos (Kidushin #142, printed in the standard Gemara immediately after the end of the Gemara) writes that the baby of an Akum and a Jewess is a kosher Akum. In addition, the Ga'on mi'Lisa (the author of the Nesivos ha'Mishpat) is cited by the Pischei Teshuvah (Even ha'Ezer 4:1) as ruling that such a child requires Gerus. However, most Poskim cited there by the Pischei Teshuvah (and also by the Otzar ha'Poskim there) maintain that the child is a Yisrael.
2) The words of the Maharshal are: "They almost do not possess the Din of a Yisrael." This suggests that, to a certain extent, they do have a Din of a Yisrael. Therefore, it seems unlikely that the Maharshal would permit asking them to do Melachah on Shabbos.
3) I would have thought that our Sugya is not related to what the Chazon Ish wrote about Tinok she'Nishbah. The Chazon Ish refers to where both parents are Jewish, while our Sugya applies to where the father is not Jewish.
4) I find it difficult to understand how Esther could have raised Daryavesh as a Jew in the palace of Achashverosh.
5) There are opinions in Yevamos 45a that the child of a Jewess and an Akum has the Din of a Mamzer.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom
In history since the time of the gemara was there ever a community that considered a child of a non-Jewish father and a Jewish mother to be either a mamzer or a Nochri? I find it incredible that such a basic fact of Jewish identity would be a matter of disagreement among Jewish communities or poskim in history.
Imagine what a great difference this would make for the many thousands and thousands of adults and children who are born to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father. I meant to use the term tinok shenishba regarding any Jew born of a Jewish mother who was brought up without Yiddishkeit whether their father was a Jew or a Nochri.
Thus it seems incredible the a bona fide son of Esther could have been considered a Nochri by the Sanhedrin. Certainly she could have brought him up properly once the story of Haman was over and certainly after Achashveros died a couple of years later. And certainly in secret. (leaving aside the position of the Zohar that he was the son of a shin daled and not of Esther herself).
1) The Derishah (on Tur Yoreh Deah, end of #266), cites Rabeinu Moshe who discusses the case of a widow who had a baby on Shabbos. Rabbeinu Moshe said that since the father may have been a Nochri, the Bris should not be carried out on Shabbos.
2) In previous generations, mixed marriages were not common. Apart from being against the Torah, it was often also against the law of the land.
3) The fact is that (as far as I am aware) we have no evidence that King Daryavesh behaved like a Jew, and since he was certainly the son of Esther this seems to be a support for the Maharshal.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom