The Divorced Kohen’s “Tragic Mistake”
A young couple who had an exemplary loving marriage for twelve years without bearing a child decided that, if they were to have children, each of them would have to have a different spouse. They made the sad, tragic decision to divorce. Both husband and wife were devoted baalei teshuvah, having decided to become frum, observant Jews, after having lived completely secular lives. They were told before the proceedings that, since the husband was a Kohen, he could never marry a divorcee or even remarry his wife. With much weeping from both husband and wife, the get, divorce, was final.
Three weeks after the divorce, the wife discovered that she was pregnant. They had had no clue prior to the divorce. Now what? She could not remarry her husband, because he was a Kohen. They were beside themselves.
The greatest posek, halachic decisor, in Eretz Yisrael was Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, 1910-2012. Perhaps he could find a dispensation. He welcomed them to his home, listened intently to every bit of information, was moved by their tears, but said that, halachically, nothing could be done. The husband was a Kohen and, thus, could not remarry his wife.
