[Avodah] A question of Yichus

[Zev Sero]

On 13/06/2012 5:05 AM, Doron Beckerman wrote:
>> Who said anything about his signing the papers?  Why is that necessary?
>> He can refuse to sign the papers if he likes; what will they do to him?
>> All he has to do is not object when the mother registers the child, and
>> allow people to make the natural (and halachic) assumption that it's his.

> That's true, but it still seems complicated. What's he going to do at the
> Bris - not make the berachah? Not answer at the Kerias Hashem when the
> fellow asks for the name and the father's name?

I assume he isn't going to show up to the bris, or any other family event.
Why would he?  After an acrimonious divorce he wants nothing to do with
his ex, and that's it.


> If someone asks "How's your son?"  He has to make sure never to answer
> "My son's okay."

Why would anyone think to ask him this?  I don't think even a positive
answer like that would constitute "huchzak mipiv", but I imagine he'd be
more likely to answer "How should I know? Ask his mother".   The whole
point here is that he wants nothing to do with her or her spawn, but he
doesn't want to ruin the kid's life if he doesn't have to.  So I don't
expect he'll be associated socially with a kid he's never seen.


>It seems really difficult not to establish any kind of chazakah

There's no need to avoid "any kind of chazakah".  On the contrary, the
power of "yakir" is precisely on a child who is "huchzak" to be his.
The only thing he wants to avoid is "huchzak mipiv", which signing
documents might do.  So let him not sign them, but merely agree not to
object when the mother lies on them.

-- 
Zev Sero        "Natural resources are not finite in any meaningful
zev at sero.name    economic sense, mind-boggling though this assertion
                  may be. The stocks of them are not fixed but rather
		 are expanding through human ingenuity."
		                            - Julian Simon