And what of the privileged class of the Frum From Birth? I submit that in reality there is no such thing. The Torah states that the nature of Man is wicked, and the Talmud elaborates that the inclination to be good develops after childhood. Consequently, no one is frum from birth. We are all just the opposite – until, that is, we learn to become frum.
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A great deal is also made of a person’s lineage, further stratifying even those who might claim to be FFB. Being the descendant of a noted rabbinic figure is to shadchanim what pedigree is to animal collectors.
Yet while yichus is indeed on the list of attributes our Sages teach us to consider, it is the very last item on the list. The Mishna states that in matters of religious precedence (such as being called up to the Torah), a Kohen precedes a Levi, who precedes a Yisrael, who precedes a mamzer, who precedes a nasin, who precedes a convert, who precedes a former gentile servant. However, this is only true when their Torah knowledge and merits are equal. Should a mamzer be a scholar and a Kohen Gadol an ignoramus – the latter enjoying the most impeccable yichus – the mamzer comes first (Horayos 3:8). We see from this that lineage is merely a tie-breaker, a nice bonus to complement one’s inherent value as an individual.
While our Sages teach us that the children of a woman may bear resemblance to her brothers, and thus one should pay attention to the family of a girl he is considering for marriage, we must note that Rivka’s brother was none other than Lavan. We are all glad that Yitzchak nevertheless married her. If we are to conclude anything, it must be that yichus in an indicator of the nature of a person, but it is only an indicator, and one of many at that.
Following the near-sacrifice of his son, Avraham desired to marry him off without delay to insure the continuation of the Jewish people. Avraham first thought of the righteous daughters of Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, not caring a whit about yichus (in the very words of the Midrash). He chose a different course only after being informed by Hashem that Yitzchak’s intended wife was born to another family (Bereishis Rabba 57).
Rabbi Levi said that Nadav and Avihu were pompous; though many Jewish girls desired to marry them, they said, “Our father’s brother [Moshe] is a king, our mother̓s brother [Nachshon] is a prince, our father [Aharon] is the Kohen Gadol, and we are both assistants to the Kohen Gadol – what woman is fit for us?” (Vayikra Rabba 20:10) Placing too much of an emphasis on their impeccable yichus helped lead to their tragic deaths.
Finally, the Sefer Chinuch, in an elaboration on Mitzva 563, states that the descendants of a convert from the nation of Edom are permitted to marry into the general Jewish population after three generations. If a Jew makes up his mind that under no circumstances will he marry such a person due to the fact that Edom caused great trouble for the Jews, or simply because he is biased against foreigners, he transgresses a biblical prohibition. After all, the Torah commands us to distance these people only for three generations, and thus after that point it is forbidden to discriminate against them in any way.
If it is a biblical prohibition to discriminate against a descendant of Edom, how much more so is one forbidden to discriminate against a ba’al teshuva, who was born with kedushas Yisrael! The many Jews who rush to fulfill whatever pseudo-religious behavior is fashionable at any givn moment should take this genuine mitzva upon themselves with similar zeal.
