Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Bechorot 47: בְּכוֹר לְדָבָר אֶחָד הָוֵי בְּכוֹר

Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon November 4, 2026

For the source text click/tap here: Bechorot 47

To download, click/tap here: PDF

Our discussion is presented regarding a kohen who died and left behind a son who was born as a disqualified kohen, the son of a woman who was not eligible to marry a kohen.

R’ Chisda says that the son must redeem his own self. Rabba b. R’ Huna holds that this son does not have to redeem himself. The Gemara clarifies that if the father died after thirty days from the birth of the son all agree that the son would not have to redeem himself.

In classical circumstances, the woman who provided the reproductive material, carried the pregnancy, and gave birth was ordinarily one and the same. The principle of peter rechem, opening the womb, therefore operated within an apparently unified understanding of maternity.

Assisted reproduction complicates this unity. A woman may give birth to a child created from another woman's oocyte. The child has one genetic mother and a different gestational mother, raising the question of whether the legal category of firstborn depends exclusively upon the history of the woman who gave birth or whether genetic maternity bears upon the child's status.

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​