2,241. Statements Made in the Course of Conversation

Hilchos Issurei Biah 20:14

If a person mentions being a kohein in the course of conversation, his word is accepted. It once happened that a person mentioned in the course of conversation, “I remember when I was a toddler carried on my father’s shoulders that they took me out of school, removed my outer garments and had me immerse in a mikvah in order to have trumah in the evening. My friends separated from me and called me ‘Yochanan, who eats challah.’” Rav Yehuda HaNasi considered him a kohein based on this statement.

Hilchos Issurei Biah 20:15

An adult’s word is accepted if he recalls that, as a child, he saw a certain person immerse in a mikvah and eat trumah in the evening. The person is considered a kohein based on such statements. Nowadays, if a person comes and claims to be a kohein and a witness testifies that his father is a kohein, we don’t consider him a kohein based on this testimony because he might be a chalal. Rather, the witness must testify that the person himself is a kohein. However, if the father is established as a kohein or two witnesses testify that the person’s father is a kohein, then we assume that he’s a kohein because of his father.