2,239. Cases With a Lower Standard of Proof
Hilchos Issurei Biah 20:10
Similar to the case in the previous halacha, if a kohein says that his son is a kohein, his word is accepted in order to feed him trumah and to have him accepted as a kohein. He need not bring proof about his wife or children.
Hilchos Issurei Biah 20:11
Let’s say that two men arrive in a city, and each of them says that they’re both kohanim. In such a case, they are taken at their word and they’re both considered kohanim even though it looks as if they could be in cahoots. Similarly, if one witness says that he saw one of them recite birkas kohanim, eat trumah, receive trumah at the granary or receive the first aliyah followed by a Levi, then he is accepted as a kohein based on that statement. Similarly, if one witness testified that a person received the second aliyah, immediately following a kohein, then he is accepted as a Levi.