3,300. If a Kohein Loses His Mental Competence Before the Wedding

Terumos 8:10

Let’s say that a woman is betrothed by a kohein with full mental competence but the marriage is not completed until after he loses his faculties. In such a case, she may eat terumah. If a kohein dies (after betrothal) and his surviving brother for yibum has congenital deafness, the woman may not eat terumah. If he marries her when he has full competence and only subsequently loses his faculties, the woman may continue to eat terumah. If he died and the surviving brother – who has congenital deafness – performs yibum, she may continue to eat terumah because she was already able to do so. If the wife of a kohein with congenital deafness gives birth to his child, she may eat terumah because of the child.

Terumos 8:11

A child nine years and one day old (in halacha 8:1) is as follows: if the daughter of a kohein is sexually intimate with a nine-year-old who is inherently prohibited to her, since sexual relations with him are legally effective, she is invalidated from the priesthood. She may no longer eat terumah because she has been rendered a zonah (in its technical sense) or a chalalah, as has already been discussed. This is true even if the nine-year-old is impotent. If the daughter of a Yisroel marries a nine-year-old kohen, she may not eat terumah even though the relations with him are legally effective. This is because he can’t acquire her in marriage until he reaches the age of majority. If there’s a doubt as to whether the boy in the first scenario (above) is nine years old or not, the woman may not eat terumah. This is also the case if a kohein’s daughter marries a doubtful thirteen-year-old boy or if there’s a doubt as to whether or not he has developed the physical signs of maturity.