Question: Is formal conversion needed when a Jewish baby is adopted and raised Christian?
Dear Rabbi,
I am a 42 year old man who was adopted at 9 months of age. I was raised Christian. Recently, I received information from my adoption agency informing me that my birth mother was Jewish. I intend to embrace the faith of my birth mother, and to that here is my question. Do I go through the conversion process, as I was not raised Jewish, or is it just a matter of starting to practice my faith? I have already started taking classes at my local synagogue.
Thank you.
Answer: Thank you for your letter. You write that you were adopted when you were nine months old. You recently learned that your birth mother was Jewish. You now want to embrace Judaism, but you want to know if it is necessary for you to convert formally to Judaism.
This is a case where the answer, literally, is "yes and no." It depends upon whom you ask.
Orthodox and Conservative Jews maintain a definition of Jewish identity that was established some 2,600 years ago. According to this definition, anyone with a Jewish mother is a Jew at the time of his or her birth. That identity remains with such a person for life and is permanent. Even if such a person renounces Judaism and converts to another religion, he or she is still considered a Jew from the perspective of Jewish law. If the information you have about your birth mother is correct, you would be considered a Jew by this definition and there is no need for you to convert.
It is interesting to note that, once upon a time, this definition of Jewish identity was an innovation. In most of the Hebrew Bible, Israelite identity was passed on to children by the father, not the mother. (For example, King Solomon's son, Rehoboam, is the son of an Ammonite mother, yet the Bible has no difficulty with him become Solomon's successor as King of Judah.) The switch in definition may have occurred in the sixth century b.c.e. when the Israelites who returned from exile in Babylon wanted to distinguish themselves from Israelites who had stayed in the land of Israel and intermarried with Canaanite women.
In the 1980s, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews adopted a definition of Jewish identity that changed centuries of tradition. In response to the increasing rate of Jewish intermarriage, and as a result of their commitment to gender equality, they embraced a standard for Jewish identity that did away with distinctions based on the sex of the Jewish parent. As a result, most Reform and Reconstructionist Jews consider a person with only one Jewish parent (regardless of whether it is the mother or father) to be a Jew only if he or she was raised as a Jew. According to this definition, you would not be considered a Jew unless you formally converted to Judaism.
Now, if that seems confusing, I have some good news for you. None of it really matters.
It doesn't matter because the advice for you is going to be the same regardless of which definition you choose. If you wish to embrace Judaism and be a Jew, then you must begin (as you have) to learn about Judaism, become part of a Jewish community, and observe a Jewish way of life. Talk to the rabbi at the synagogue where you have taken courses and plan your journey together. That journey may include a formal conversion ceremony at some point, or it may not. It doesn't really matter. All that matters is that you make Judaism your own.
Best wishes,
Rabbi Jeffrey W. Goldwasser
