Halakhah su Levitico 24:11

Dayan Just points out that the first discussion of this question appeared in one of the earliest Torah journals, the Shomer Zion ha-Ne'eman, which was published in Altona in the mid-nineteenth century under the editorship of R. Jacob Ettlinger and Samuel Joseph Enoch. In his treatment of this problem in issues no. 98 (36 Nisan, 5610) and no. 99 (14 Iyar, 5610), R. Samuel Bondi of Mainz reached a similar conclusion but hesitated to implement his ruling pending a concurring opinion on the part of prominent halakhic authorities. These responsa evoked a contrary opinion penned by R. Moses Schick, which appeared in issue no. 110 (22 Elul, 5611) of the same journal, and was later reprinted in a more comprehensive form in Teshuvot Maharam Schick, Yoreh De'ah, no. 299. A similarly dissenting view is expressed by Hazon Ish, Even ha-Ezer 6:7 and 16:17. According to this opinion, a child can never acquire the tribal identity of its mother because the paternal genealogical relationship does not merely supersede that of the mother and hence become the governing factor in the determination of tribal identity, but serves as the sole operative relationship with regard to tribal status. Hence the first-born issue of a mixed marriage does not have the tribal status of a Levite and is exempt from redemption as a first-born solely by virtue of the fact that he is a son of a female Levite. Accordingly, Hazon Ish defines the term "disqualified Levite" employed by the Gemara as having reference to one who is the progeny of a Levite but who himself lacks any such tribal identity. A similar interpretation is to be found in the commentary of the Rit Algazi on Bekhorot. In support of the view of these authorities, Rabbi Just cites the commentary of Nachmanides on the verse "and the son of an Israelite woman and a son of Israel strove together in the camp" (Lev. 24:11). Nachmanides remarks that despite his unquestioned status as a Jew, Scripture speaks of the child of an Israelite mother and Egyptian father as the "son of an Israelite woman" and not as an Israelite in his own right as an indication that such progeny lacks tribal identity. We are, then, confronted by the odd case of an individual who is unquestionably a Jew by birth but is not a member of any of the twelve tribes and hence lacking in tribal status. The halakhic ramifications of this anomalous status precludes such individuals from encampment around the banners in the wilderness and from inheritance in the Land of Israel.