[Avodah] A question of Yichus

[Shoshana L. Boublil]

I was asked to request assistance and comments from the members of this
group with regard to the following problem:

A man discovers a letter his wife wrote her lover (it was open, in plain
view) in which she states that she's quite sure the kid is his [the lover's]
b/c the husband was in the army when she became pregnant.

This is the first indication the husband had of the existence of a lover -
or that the kid is not his. He leaves the house before the birth and sues
for divorce in Israel.

The law in Israel recognizes the status of Mamzer and therefore has laws
following Jewish tradition to prevent and reduce the number of possible
mamzerim. Therefore, without eidim, the rule "Rov Be'ilot Achar HaBa'al" is
enforced and the husband is considered the child's father. The law also
prohibits any attempt at DNA testing to prove fatherhood in any case where
the result may make the child a mamzer.

The result is that the husband has to pay child support for the next 21
years for a child that everyone knows is not his.

The question is: Is there any way to remove the obligation to pay child
support for this child WITHOUT making the child a mamzer. The husband is
willing to have his name on the ID and legal papers of the child, he just
doesn't want to pay for someone else's kid. This is distinct from other
cases where the father had already raised the child for several years and
made a connection (like an adoptive father would), when the truth came to
light.

One point: In Israeli law, fatherhood has to be established to a level of
over 50% certainty to force someone to pay. A child is a mamzer only if it
is 100% established that his father was not his mother's husband. So,
theoretically, if we could prove to a level of 60% that the husband is NOT
the father, he would not be obligated for the child support, but the child
would not be considered a mamzer. 

Any suggestions are welcome.

Note: we are willing to pursue this issue as it may be a further step
against infidelity if the lover knows he may be sued for child support even
if the woman is married, and even if he has a family of his own.

Shoshana L. Boublil