Am I still Jewish if my mother converted to Christianity?
Tuesday May 13, 2008
Dear Rabbi Goldwasser,
I am African-American. My grandmother converted to Judaism as a young woman. She raised my mother as a Jew, however, as an adult my mother converted to Christianity. Am I Jewish?
Denise
I am African-American. My grandmother converted to Judaism as a young woman. She raised my mother as a Jew, however, as an adult my mother converted to Christianity. Am I Jewish?
Denise
Comments
Did she convert to Christianity after you were born? If so, then you would probably be Jewish. If not, then that would be one for the rabbi to answer.
Of course, depending on what your grandmother did to convert, some rabbis may say she wasn’t properly converted (Orthodox rabbis may not accept a Reform conversion, etc.) So a rabbi would probably need more details and might still give a qualified answer.
The real question is, do you want to be Jewish or Christian? If Jewish, you can convert just to be “sure”. If Christian, accepting Jesus is all you need to do.