Nearly 40 years ago, I had a problem with regards to one of my teenage pupils who had been adopted, but his adopted parents did not want him to know this fact. His adopted father was a Levi, but from the information I had obtained from the Beth Din who had a file on his adoption, I learned that this boy was a Yisrael. The problem was in connection with an Aliyah to the Torah at the school’s weekday morning services. All the pupils in his class regularly had Aliyos, and thus a way had to be found to give him an Aliyah. Sometimes I gave him hagba or gelila and when there was no Kohen present, I gave him the first Aliyah. On one occasion there were two Kohanim present but no Levi. I got around the problem by asking the two Kohanim to “forgo” their right to the first Aliyah, (of course without telling them the reason), which they agreed to, and I then called up this adopted boy to the first Aliyah.
Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today
by
Miriam & Alan Goldberg and Ruth Peyser Kestenbaumto mark the thirteenth yahrtzeit oftheir father, Irwin Peyser, Harav Yisroel Chaim
ben R’ Dovid V’ Fraidah Raizel Peyser
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Author: Chaim Simons
Nearly 40 years ago, I had a problem with regards to one of my teenage pupils who had been adopted, but his adopted parents did not want him to know this fact. His adopted father was a Levi, but from the information I had obtained from the Beth Din who had a file on his adoption, I learned that this boy was a Yisrael. The problem was in connection with an Aliyah to the Torah at the school’s weekday morning services. All the pupils in his class regularly had Aliyos, and thus a way had to be found to give him an Aliyah. Sometimes I gave him hagba or gelila and when there was no Kohen present, I gave him the first Aliyah. On one occasion there were two Kohanim present but no Levi. I got around the problem by asking the two Kohanim to “forgo” their right to the first Aliyah, (of course without telling them the reason), which they agreed to, and I then called up this adopted boy to the first Aliyah.