Kohen Marrying an Unmarried Woman Who Became Pregnant; Zonah Status

Description

An unmarried Jewish woman became pregnant and claimed a Kohen was the father, while he denied paternity. The Chasam Sofer analyzes at length whether she bears the status of a zonah forbidden to a Kohen, acknowledging a strong reasoning for leniency based on the majority of Jews being fit for kehunah and Jewish women not being suspected of relations with non-Jews, but ultimately concludes one cannot fully rely on this reasoning and the burden of proof falls on the one who wishes to be lenient.