Can the child of two converts marry a Cohen? How does the situation differ if only the mother, or only the father, is a convert?
(I have read that "ideally" the child of two converts should not marry a Cohen, but what exactly does this mean?)
If such a marriage takes place, will the children retain Cohen status?
Answer
Based on the Shulchan Aruch Even HaEzer 7:21 the daughter of converts (and her daughter etc. until at least one of the parents has traditional Jewish ancestry) should not marry a priest. However, if she does and she was conceived after her parents' conversions, then they do not need to get divorced, implying a non-Biblical restriction on such a marriage, and the child (when the father is a kohen) is also a kohen.
The source of the restriction is the Talmud Kiddush 78b which states that although the halacha follows the view that the children of converts are permitted to a priest, after the destruction of the Second Temple the priests adopted an extra stringency and avoided marrying even the children of converts. This long standing tradition is the source for the halacha.
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