adoption into judaism?

Question

a couple of scenarios of people ive heard of from gossip my younger brother brings home from his school. it has led to my curiosity:

if a goy child was adopted by orthodox jewish parents, and raised him jewish - for all his life, but hasnt had a bat mitvah. and he has practiced judaism and knows nothing else, is he jewish or not?

if goy parents adopt an orthodox jewish child,would they be allowed to raise it jewish. ie teach him judaism, allow him brit millah and bar mitzvah and teach him to keep kosher without being converts themselves but practising judaism? if they wanted to convert, would it be allowed?

and finally a jewish child who was adopted by goy parents, but this time the child didnt know of his jewish roots until she is older. say over the age of 21+, she knows nothing about judaism apart from basics. she wants to learn more about her culture and to learn hebrew and become a "proper" jew. how would she go about this? Could she ever learn now she is older?

and finally, my situation. im a semi-practicer. my parents are jewish and i was raised in a jewish community until my father died when i was 9.
after we moved away, i no longer went to a jewish school, i didn't get a bat mizvah :-( but i know im jewish and im very proud - any way to the point. ive been aware of shabbat but now im training as a doctor which requires me to work all hours including shabbat, im starting to feel really guilty. how is this seen in the eyes of the jewish law? i can't help when other people fall ill and i have to work if i am required. i live in a very christian city and have nobody to consult now my grandmother isnt here anymore :-(

thanks for killing my curiosity!

Answer 1

ADOPTION AND CONVERSION OF A NON-JEWISH CHILD

Orthodox:
The early Hebrews of the Bible, along with their other Semitic and Mesopotamian neighbors, lived in a "man's" world. It was "from a man's loins" that came offspring, and the tribe or clan continued. When the Hebrews lost their land, and they became refugees in other lands, they lost their ability to defend themselves, becoming prone to all kinds of abuse. Therefore, there was a practical change for purpose of religious verification. Whereas paternity might sometimes be in question, there was certainly no doubt as to whom the mother was. Hence the rule was established: If the mother is Jewish, the child is Jewish.

A child born to a non-Jewish mother, regardless of who the father is, has the status of a non Jew, according with Halakha (Jewish Law). A formal conversion is then necessary.

Even if the child is raised to be a devout Jew, whose Jewish beliefs or behaviors are without question, his legal status as a Jew is denied him unless he has gone through a proper conversion rite. The civil or legal adoption by a Jewish couple does not automatically render that child Jewish.

Just giving a Jewish name in a synagogue or making-up some ritual and prayer does not make the child Jewish. According to Halakha ( Jewish Law), if a boy, the child must be circumcised by a mohel or some drops of blood must be drawn to affirm the BRIT, the covenant between Israel and G’d . Then he must be immersed in the Mikvah and the Bet-Din (three rabbis ) recite the appropriate benedictions. When the child is a girl only the last part is needed for conversion.

The formal rite of conversion must be followed by a Jewish education and training in the observance of the commandments , so the child can grow-up to behave, think and be a Jew.... http://www.adopting.org/uni/frame.php?url=http://www.jewishwebsight.com/lifecycle/adoptionnon.html
http://www.starsofdavid.org/stories/adopjew.html
http://www.jstandard.com/articles/1873/1/Adoption-and-Jewish-law
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=EJ595709
http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_c/bl_adoption.htm
http://jewish.adoptionblogs.com/index.php?cat=269

Answer 2

If your mother was Jewish, you are Jewish, irrespective of whether you are a practising Jew or not :)

I totally appreciate that as a trainee doctor you are having to break shabbat and I think that as you are feeling so very troubled over this, you should consult a Rabbi and get some proper advice. There are numerous Jewish doctors in the world and some of them are religious, so you won't be the first to have experienced this dilemma!

For any other queries, there are many helpful websites that may benefit you as you say you don't have much contact with the Jewish community. Try www.whatjewsbelieve.com

Also www.askmoses.com

I note that you use the word 'goy' a lot. I should point out that the original meaning of the word 'goyim' was simply 'nation'. It has come, in the vernacular, to mean also 'non Jew' but it's not a term that Jewish people will often use. I don't use it. 'Gentile' is a nicer word, I think.

Hope this has helped a bit. I saw that someone else has answered the specific scenarios you mention so I didn't address these. One basic point: anybody can convert to Judaism.

Answer 3

Quite often non-Jewish children are adopted by Jewish families and the child is bought up Jewish whilst undergoing conversion, before the age of Bar mitzvah the child is asked if he/she want to be Jewish and if so is regarded as a convert. This also applies to the children of converts who converted after the child was born.

If non-Jewish paretns adopted an orthodox child, there's nothing to stop them bringing him up Jewish but why would they. There 's no barriers to them converting is there?

A Jewish child who is adopted who discovers when they are older and just knows basics, they may have to undergo instruction but I'm relatively sure they would not have to undergo a true conversion as long as they could prove their birth mother was Jewish.

Some of these rules came into question a few years ago when triplets were born in Britain. They were conceived through IVF and although the biological parents were both Jewish, th mother couldn't carry a baby to term and they used a non-Jewish surrogate, when they were born there was the question about their status under Jewish law.

Answer 4

1) The child has to be converted to be Jewish- this can be done as a baby but the child has an one time option to rescind the conversion. This rescinding must be done before the child publicy performs any mitzvah or publicly refrains from breaking a negative commandment (such as turning away treif (non-kosher) food).
2) A child born Jewish is Jewish regardless of who raises it and how they were brought up. If the non-Jewish parents in this case wanted to convert, they would have to go through a proper conversion through a Beis Din (Rabbinical court)
3) As above, once born Jewish- you are Jewish. many communities run adult education courses and there are a lot of websites that aim to educate people in this position. Two of the best of these are http://www.aish.com and http://www.chabad.org

As for a doctor working on shabbos- this has been discussed extensively in the responsa of various Rabbis. The answer if Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (followed by most Orthodox Jews) is that a doctor is involved in pikuach nefesh (preserving life) and can thus do things that even violate laws mi'doraiso (laws from the Torah). He goes so far as to say that if a doctor is called out to hospital on shabbos, he may drive home afterwards even though the crisis will be over. This is allowed since there must be no hesitation or unwillingness in the doctor to go to the hospital or patient when needed since a delay or hesitation could end up causing someone to lose their life.

However, your best bet is to discuss the issue with your local Orthodox Rabbi and find out what your communities practice is in this regard (I would be very intersted to hear if they do not follow the pshat of HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach)

Answer 5

1.There is a concept in Judaism of a child conversion.

Basically on the parents behalf they can convert a child.
The catch is that once the kid becomes an adult he can chose if that is binding or not. If he declares he/she is no longer Jewish the conversion is null and void. If they say they are Jewish the conversion is binding.

If a conversion process was never done the child is not Jewish, but may convert as an adult if they so wish.

2. As for your second case I imagine it is up to them how they want to rase the child and if they want to convert.

3. It is never too late. In every major city there are basic Judaism and Jewish courses (often for free) for adults with a weak Jewish educational background.


4. Their is one cardinal exception to that one is not only allowed to break the Sabbath, but one is required to do so.
Namely saving a life. If you can avoid being on call as a doctor during the Sabbath all the better, but if you have to then you must do your job to its fullest.

trying to keep the Sabbath at the cost of someones health (even potential health) goes against everything in Judaism.

Answer 6

No he or she is not Jewish BUT it is easier for him or her to convert to Judaism than someone who was not raised by a Jewish family. Orthodox Jews make sure the child knows that he or she is not Jewish and can convert.

A Jew who was adopted by non Jews, she can simply visit an Orthodox rabbi just like a non religious would who will sign her up for classes.

Answer 7

By your frequent use of the word "goy", I hope you are Jewish, otherwise you are slanting the bias of your post.

You can be Jewish two ways only...by being born of a Jewish mother or by conversion. Thats it.

Being Jewish is like being a member of Augusta National. We are an exclusive club that doesn't readily accept converts. We're hard to get into and easy to get into trouble.

Answers:

1. No. Unless he converts.

2. Yes, he is Jewish by birth and reinforced by having gone through the Bar Mitzvah. Yes, they can convert if they are serious.

3. She would be considered a non-practicing Jew. It would be best if she studied and had her bat mitzvah. Age is no barrier to learning.

Answer 8

Religion fails.