Open Beit Midrash: Perspectives on Chalalim from Sinai to the Knesset

(1) You [Moses] shall bring forward your brother Aaron, with his sons, from among the Israelites, to serve Me as priests: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron....(41) anoint them, and ordain them and consecrate them to serve Me as priests.

(7) They [kohanim] shall not marry a woman profaned by harlotry, nor shall they marry one divorced from her husband. For they are holy to their God.

(Written 11th century)

(2) Chalalah — This is a woman born from a marriage which is forbidden to the priesthood alone [Kiddushin 77a], e.g....the daughter of a divorced woman...and an ordinary kohen. So also it denotes a woman who became profaned in respect to kohanim (i.e. who lost the right of marrying a kohen) through her having previously entered into a union with one of those kohanim a marriage with whom comes under the term: "marriages forbidden to the priesthood alone."

(Redacted ~200 CE)

(6) The daughter of a chalal is disqualified to [marry] a kohen forever [Kiddushin 77a: after three generations].

[With regard to] a yisrael who married a chalalah, his daughter is valid to marry a kohen.

[With regard to] a chalal who married the daughter of a yisrael, his daughter is disqualified to [marry] a kohen.

(Published ~1180 CE)

What is meant by a chalalah? [A woman] born from [relations] forbidden to a kohen. Similarly, any woman who is forbidden to a kohen who engaged in relations with a kohen becomes a chalalah. A kohen who commits a transgression himself, however, is not deemed a chalal. (Translation adapted from chabad.org)

Thus there are three categories of chalalim: a chalal according to the Torah, a chalal according to rabbinic decree, and a person whose status as a chalal is a matter of question.

Anyone whose status as a chalal is a matter of question must observe the restrictions incumbent on kohanim and those incumbent on ordinary yisraelim. [Like a yisrael,] he may not partake of terumah [food set aside in the Temple for kohanim], he may not become impure due to contact with the dead [like a kohen], and he must marry a woman fit to marry a kohen. If he partakes of terumah, becomes impure, or marries a divorcee, he is given lashes for rebellious conduct. The same laws apply to a chalal by rabbinic decree.

When, however, a person is definitely a chalal according to the Torah, he is like [any other] non-priest. He may marry a divorcee and become impure due to contact with a corpse. [This is derived from Leviticus 21:1 which] states: "Speak to the kohanim, the descendants of Aaron." [Implied is that the prohibition that follows does not apply] even to the descendants of Aaron unless they are kohanim.

(Translation adapted from chabad.org)

When a chalal marries an acceptable woman, his descendants from her are chalalim. This also applies to the son of his son's son and indeed, even for a thousand generations. For the male son of a chalal is a chalal for all time. If the offspring is female, she is forbidden to marry a kohen, because she is a chalalah.

When, however, a yisrael marries a chalalah, the offspring are acceptable. Therefore if one of the offspring is female, she may marry a kohen at the outset.

(Translation adapted from chabad.org)