Halakhah do Rodzaju 34:1

Rabbi Hershler, apparently unaware of this earlier discussion, cites Targum Yonatan as establishing that maternal identity is established by parturition and, indeed, it may be noted that Genesis 34:1 does speak of "Dinah the daughter of Leah." An identical conclusion based upon the comments of Targum Yonatan was earlier reached by R. Zevi Hirsch Friedling, Ha-Be'er, VI (5691), no. 3; and by R. Betzalel Ze'ev Safran, as reported by his son in Ha-Be'er, VII (5692), no. 2, and reprinted in Teshuvot ha-Rabaz, I (Jerusalem, 5722), Teshuvot mi-Ben ha-Meḥaber, no. 5. The diverse conclusions reached on the basis of the same narrative illustrates the cogency of the position of R. Joshua Feigenbaum, author of Teshuvot Meshiv Shalom, expressed in a contribution to Sha'arei Torah, vol. XV, no. 4. In disagreeing with Sha'ar Menasheh, Rabbi Feigenbaum points out that halakhic principles are not derivable from aggadic sources.⁴Maternal identity is also discussed by R. Judah Gershuni, Or ha-Mizraḥ, Nisan-Tammuz 5738, reprinted in Rabbi Gershuni’s collected essays, Kol Ẓofai-yikh (Jerusalem, 5740), pp. 361–367; and by R. Moshe Soloveichik, Or ha-Mizraḥ, Tishri-Tevet 5741 (Gilyon ha-Me’ah), pp. 122–128. See also the unpublished responsum of R. Ovadiah Yosef cited by R. Moshe Drori in Teḥumin, I (Winter, 5740), 287ff.