A young Haifa man of Cohanic descent fell in love with a convert faked a birth certificate for her so that he could marry her.
By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
A young Haifa man of Cohanic descent who fell in love with a convert and faked a birth certificate for her so that he could marry her has been found guilty on criminal charges, reports Yediot Haifa. The man was convicted of making use of forged documents, and was sentenced to 180 hours of community service for his crime.
According to the report, as a Cohen - a descendant of the priestly line of Aaron - the man is prohibited by Jewish law from marrying a convert, even one who was converted as a baby. So he reportedly faked a certificate for his lady love to show that she had been born Jewish. The local rabbinate uncovered the fraud and refused to allow the marriage to go ahead, so the young man changed his address to one in Jerusalem and tried again there - only to be caught out once again. This time, he was brought to a criminal court on charges of using false documents, where a judge reportedly took pity on the thwarted lover and decided not to impose a heavy penalty, sentencing him to 180 hours of community work instead. That number is significant in Jewish lore as representing 10 times the value of the word hai (life).