Parshas Bamidbar begins with the counting of Klal Yisroel during the second year from Yetzias Mitzrayim. The passuk says that this counting is “According to their families, to their father’s house.” We learn from this passuk that concerning tribal affiliation, the halachah that we look at the father’s tribe. If a father is from Levi, the son is also a Levi. If a child is the product of a Jewish mother and a gentile father, there is a disagreement of opinion if the child is without a tribe or he goes after the tribe of his mother’s father.
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Rabbi Aharon Dovid Singer
Rosh Kollel, NMB Kollel