Kesubos 15a: When a woman was violated by an unknown man, if the majority of the city is Jewish and of good lineage, and the majority of visitors is also Jewish and of good lineage, then we permit the woman to marry a kohein. Although elsewhere we do not require two majorities, in matters of lineage the Sages enacted a higher standard. 

כתובות טו ע”א. הולכין אחר רוב העיר והוא דאיכא רוב סיעה בהדה, ואין הולכין אחר רוב העיר גרידתא, ולא אחר רוב סיעה גרידתא וכו’ ומי בעינן תרי רובי וכו’ מעלה עשו ביוחסין.

A 20-year-old frum girl in Flatbush once overheard her parents fighting, and in anger her father yelled, “You’re adopted anyway – who knows where you come from?” Shocked, the girl went to her grandparents and asked, “Is it true that Mommy is adopted?” They said, “Yes, it’s true. We came to America after the war and were unable to have kids, so we adopted your mother.” “But how do you know she’s Jewish?” asked the girl. Her grandparents showed her a certificate of adoption issued by the Jewish Family Services in a city outside New York State. “We adopted her from a Jewish organization and we were told she was Jewish.”

A copy of the certificate in her hand, she went to ask Rabbi Yisroel Reisman what to do. Rabbi Reisman made some inquiries and found that the rav in that city was a Torah Vodaas graduate whom he happened to know. The Jewish Family Services office was still in existence, although now it catered mostly to non-Jews. The two rabbis decided to pay them a visit and see if they would allow them access to the files.

Entering the offices, they found that the files were under the control of two Jewish women, one frum and one not. Rabbi Reisman began with the frum woman, “I won’t ask you to break the law, but if you could just show us where the files are and then step out of the room… we’re not violating the spirit of the law, since we’re not looking to spread any information further.” She agreed, but said the files from that particular year were located in the other woman’s office. The other woman didn’t agree to let the rabbis see the record, but she did agree to show it to her co-worker, the frum woman, who then testified to the rabbis, “I can’t tell you the name of the biological parents, but I can tell you it’s an obviously Jewish last name.” 

Rabbi Reisman now felt he had a basis for a heter: In the 1950’s, most people with typically Jewish last names were Jewish. And most people using the Jewish Family Services at that time were Jewish. That is two rov’s, two majorities, indicating that the girl’s mother is Jewish. But to make sure, he made an appointment to ask Rav Elyashiv on his next visit to Eretz Yisroel.  

At first, Rav Elyashiv began to outline the heter of the two rovs. But then he asked, “Did you hire a lawyer?” “No, said Rabbi Reisman. “Go back, hire a lawyer and see if you can get the record released.“ “And what happens if the lawyer is unsuccessful?” “Then you’ll come back to me,“ said Rav Elyashiv. “But I live in America, and it’s not so easy to come back,” said Rabbi Reisman. “Don’t worry, Rabbi Efrati is here and he will make sure you get right in.”

Rabbi Reisman went to Avi Schick, who recommended a lawyer in the state where the adoption took place. But the lawyer soon ran into a dead end. It turned out that according to the law in that state, it was permitted to release an adoption record only if both the biological parents and the child simultaneously request it. Since they don’t know each other, the odds of that ever happening are astronomically low. Moreover, the woman was in her 50’s, so her biological parents might not be alive.

In the end, the psak was to do a geirus misafeik – a conversion out of doubt. Rabbi Reisman asked Rabbi Reuven Feinstein if this girl would be permitted to a kohein, and he replied, “Yes. Mid’oraisa it’s permitted because in the 1950’s, the organization was servicing mostly Jews. The only question is whether you have a second rov, based on the name. This is a sofek in a D’rabanan, so we can be lenient.”

Ultimately, her younger siblings and her mother went through conversion too. For her brother, the beis din ruled that he needed only tevilah, not bris milah, because he had already had a bris as a baby. This is based on the opinion of the Ramban that if the milah was done for the sake of Judaism (i.e. because they thought he was Jewish), even though it was not for the sake of geirus, it’s good enough in cases of doubt.

Source: Rabbi Reisman’s shiur on Hilchos Niddah, Yoreh Deah 198:34

Kesubos 50a: One should not give more than one fifth of his income to tzedaka.

כתובות נ ע”א: א״ר אילעא: באושא התקינו, המבזבז ־ אל יבזבז יותר מחומש.

Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Meisel, the Rav of Lodz, was known to give any money he had to tzedakah. They asked him, “Rebbe, how can you give away so much money for tzedakah? It says that a person is not allowed to give away more than one fifth.”

The Rav answered, “You are right. It is a terrible aveirah, and I was always very careful not to give away more than one fifth. However, one day I accidentally gave away more than one fifth. I did not know what to do. How could I gain atonement for this sin? I took the advice that Daniel gave to Nevuchadnetzar: Giving tzedakah will atone for your sin (Daniel 4:24). So I gave tzedakah to be mechaper for giving more than one fifth. Then I realized I did another aveirah by giving more than one fifth again, so I needed to give more tzedakah. I needed to keep giving away my money for tzedakah as an atonement until I had no more money left, and would be potur as an oneis.”

When he met Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, Reb Eliyahu Chaim praised his recently published sefer, Achiezer.  Reb Chaim Ozer asked Reb Eliyahu Chaim, “When will you write a sefer?”

Reb Eliyahu Chaim pulled out promissory notes from his pockets for loans he had signed for and said, “This is my sefer. I am so busy with tzedakah that I don’t have time to write a sefer.”

“My sefer pales in comparison to yours,” Reb Chaim Ozer declared.

Source: Mah Nomar, Hilchos Chol Hamoed, p. 44

[Notwithstanding his humorous answer, it would seem that Reb Eliyahu Chaim did have a legitimate reason for giving away more than one fifth. The reason why one is not allowed to give more than a fifth is because we are afraid he himself will become poor and will be a burden on others. As the Rav, Reb Eliyahu Chaim held it was the obligation of the people to support the poor. He would borrow and give to the poor, and he was famous for paying the Russian government’s fees to exempt boys from the draft. The community had the obligation to reimburse him because he was really distributing the tzedaka on their behalf.]

Kesubos 2a: If the kallah became a niddah on the wedding day and they delayed the wedding, does the chosson have to start supporting the kallah?

Ran: It seems that this Gemara supports the Rambam’s opinion that chuppah means yichud; thus now that she is a niddah, they are forbidden to be alone together, and chuppah cannot take place. That’s why the Gemara considers the possibility that the chosson does not need to support her, since the delay is beyond his control. But according to those Rishonim who hold that chuppah just means that the kallah enters the chosson’s house or domain, why does the wedding need to be delayed? The other Rishonim respond that although the wedding does not need to be delayed, the Chachomim allowed the chosson to delay it because they cannot have relations.

כתובות ב ע”א: פירסה נדה, מהו?

ר”ן: איכא דיליף לה מהכא דחופה היינו יחוד ולפיכך כשפירסה נדה ולא בעל אסורה להתיחד כדאמרינן לקמן דהוא ישן בין האנשים ואשתו ישנה בין הנשים ולאו בת חופה היא ומשום הכי אינו מעלה לה מזונות… ואחרים אומרים דחופה לאו היינו יחוד אלא חופה היינו כל שהביאה הבעל מבית אביה לביתו לשם נשואין וכו’ וכי תימא פירסה נדה למה אינו מעלה לה מזונות הרי בידו להכניסה לחופה! היינו טעמא שכיון שאין חופה זו מסורה לביאה לא חייבוהו חכמים לכנסה.

Rav Avrohom Pam was once mesader kiddushin, and that night at 2 AM, the chosson called him up with a question. “I just realized that one of the witnesses for the yichud room was a relative. Is my wife permitted to me, or do we need to do the yichud over again with kosher witnesses?” Rav Pam told him it was okay, based on an Ohr Somayach. There is a disagreement between the Rambam and other Rishonim brought by the Ran if chuppah is yichud at all. And even if you need yichud, the Ohr Somayach (on Hilchos Ishus Perek 10) is not certain if the eidim are l’kiyumei milsa (necessary to make the chuppah take effect). Thus there is a sfek sfeika (double doubt) and it is permitted.

Rav Pam told this story to Rabbi Yisroel Reisman and then commented, “This halacha is also relevant for a chuppas niddah. At the wedding, they don’t do yichud because it’s not allowed. A few days later, when the wife goes to the mikveh, they do yichud. We are lenient, even lechatchilah, and don’t require two witnesses on this yichud. But if the chosson is a talmid chacham and asks me, then I recommend doing it with witnesses.”

Source: Rabbi Reisman, First tape on Yoreh Deah Siman 195, at 32 minutes

Kesubos 21a. When a witness signed on a loan document needs to verify his signature, he can write it on a potsherd and give it to the Beis Din and they will compare it to the signature on the document. Only on a potsherd, but not on a parchment, lest a criminal find it and write a loan document above the signature, as it says in the Mishnah (Bava Basra 175b): If the lender produced a document signed by the borrower that he owes him, he may collect from the borrower’s property, provided that the property has not been sold to anyone else.

כתובות כא ע”א: ודוקא אחספא, אבל אמגלתא לא, דלמא משכח לה איניש דלא מעלי וכתב עילויה מאי דבעי, ותנן: הוציא עליו כתב ידו שהוא חייב לו, גובה מנכסים בני חורין.

In the autumn of 2001 after suffering a stroke, Rav Chaim Kanievsky was recuperating in the Mayenei Hayeshua Hospital in Bnei Brak. His therapist asked Rav Chaim to write something on a sheet of paper to accustom him to once again using his hands and fingers. Slowly and painstakingly, he wrote these words, “Yekum purkan min shemaya.” The therapist was taken aback. “I have been doing this work for years,” he said to the great sage. “Every single person – without fail – whom I ask to write something, always signs his name. Why did the Rov not do that?” Rav Chaim answered, “Chazal teach that a person should not write his name on a blank sheet of paper, lest a dishonest person find and write above the signature that the undersigned owes him money, and then he would be liable.”

According to another version, this story happened after Rav Chaim was awakened from anesthesia by his doctor. The doctor gave him a blank piece of paper and told him to sign his name, in order to see if he was fully alert. Rav Chaim wrote the letters ב”ב קעה ע”ב – the place where the Mishnah says that one’s signature may be used as a proof to collect money from him.

Source: FJJ 3/24/2022, p. 14 and p. 36.