Crossposted from tumblr: Halacha question re: marriage

[captainlordauditor]

 if I’m getting married*, how is “relative” defined for the purposes of finding witnesses? I know blood relatives and their spouses don’t count, but what about the sister of my brother-in-law**? What about her husband?

*I’m not

**as in, my sister’s husband’s sister. English needs better words for this

Comments

[seekingferret]

Halachipedia has a footnote on this, which does not have a citation to a primary source, but according to the footnote, relative extends by halacha as far as second cousin, and by added stringency as far as third cousin. And it includes the spouses of blood relatives. But it does not appear to include the relatives of spouses of blood relatives, so I think I would conclude based on this that the sister of your brother in law would be a kosher witness.

https://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Kiddushin#cite_note-38

[captainlordauditor]

Thank you so much! My only other thought was that it had to do with anyone related to one side but not the other, who would have a potential reason to lie if one of them claimed it went through and the other said it didn't, but I wasn't sure how far that extended.

[seekingferret]

No, there's no reason why that would be the case. Kiddushin is a bilateral contract, anyone who is related to either party is not allowed as Eid Kiddushin.