Re: Definition of a Mamzer

     RYaakov Ellis, citing the case of an Israeli woman going to 
court in order to establish that her son's father is not the man to 
whom she was married at the time, but is the man with whom she had an 
affair, writes

<The mother is claiming that she had no actual contact with the man 
who was her halachic husband at the time of conception. There might
be a chazaka that "the majority of sexual acts take place with the 
legal husband", but in this case, we have the direct testimony of the 
woman that this is not so. Does the name printed on the birth 
certificate actually have significance in this case in determining 
whether or not the child is a mamzer?>

    The halacha is explicit (EH 4:29): "Eishes ish she'omeres al 
ha'ubar sheino miba'alah einah ne'emenes l'foslo."  Her unsupported 
statement is halachically meaningless.  (It is said that RMF was once 
m'sader kiddushin, when one of the mothers, under the chupah, said 
the child wasn't hers.  His immediate reaction was, "You're not 
ne'emenses," and he proceeded with birkas eirusin.)

     However, she is believed (because of shavya anafsha chaticha 
d'issura) that she is prohibited from marrying the man with whom she 
claims to have committed adultery.

EMT

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