Kiddushin 4:5-6

Kiddushin 4:5

When investigating someone’s lineage, they don’t go farther than the altar, the platform or the Sanhedrin (meaning that if one of the ancestors was a kohein who served in the Temple, a Levi who sang on the platform, or a member of the Sanhedrin, we know the family was already investigated at that point so we need look no further). Anyone whose ancestors were known to hold public office or to have served as charity officials may marry girls from kohein families without being investigated. Rabbi Yosi says that this is true even of one who signed documents as a witness in the court of Yeshana, a city near Tzippori (since even witnesses were investigated there). Rabbi Chanina ben Antigonos also includes those who signed up for King David’s army (who were likewise investigated).

Kiddushin 4:6

The daughter of a chalal (the unfit son of a kohein) may never marry a kohein. (This prohibition applies not just to the chalal’s daughter but to his son’s daughter, his grandson’s daughter, etc.) If a Yisroel marries a chalalah (a female chalal), his daughter may marry a kohein. If a chalal marries a girl from a Yisroel family, his daughter may not marry a kohein. Rabbi Yehuda says that the daughter of a male convert is the same as the daughter of a chalal.