Jewish funeral / burial practice and customs
The Required Laws of a Funeral It is a positive mitzvah, ordained by the Sages, to accompany the deceased to
Hello, esteemed rabbi,
A man who was married to a non-Jewish woman and had two daughters with her passed away and left two watches worth 60,000 euros. He expressed his wish, during his illness before passing away, to his Jewish sister, that these watches not be left to his daughters. Now, after his death, the sister took the watches, and the non-Jewish daughters are demanding that we return them to them. What should the sister do according to Jewish law?
With greetings and thanks
Hello and welcome
According to Jewish law, there is no such reality of a Jew married to a non-Jew, since marriages are not valid between Jews and non-Jews. Therefore, even if the deceased Jew lived with a non-Jewish woman and they had children together, the non-Jewish woman is not considered his wife according to Jewish law.
Moreover, according to Jewish law, a person who lives with a non-Jewish woman, the children born from her are not considered their children, but rather the children of the non-Jewish woman only, and they are not considered their heirs. Therefore, your children do not inherit from you.
Thus, according to the Torah, the watches, like all inheritance, belong exclusively to the heirs of the Jew according to the Torah, and not to the daughters born of a goya, despite him being their biological father.
Although it is important to know that a Jew who married a non-Jewish woman in a civil marriage establishes a financial partnership with that woman, according to the laws of the countries, and also according to Jewish law, he establishes a financial partnership with her because that is the practice of the country. Therefore, it is necessary to first verify whether the non-Jewish woman received half of the assets that she and the Jew accumulated during the marriage, or alternatively, whether those watches were purchased before the marriage and are not shared between him and the woman. For what was mentioned in our response refers only to the property that belongs to the Jew.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the aforementioned refers only to the laws of the Torah; however, it is perfectly possible that the provisions of civil law differ from the sacred laws of the Torah.
With best regards
Rabbi David Ohayon
PLEASE NOTE*
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