This couldn't be more annoying if it tried

My fiance and I are going to adopt a couple of kids at some point. Not because we can't have our own (we're going to have one biological child at some point also) but because its the right thing to do. However, this has been said to us more than once and it makes me mad...

"Your adopted children will never be Jewish"

That is so hateful I could punch someone.

 

I know adopted kids that are Jewish... that's retarded.

 

is it because you guys are jewish or because the kid is?

anyways, in any case... it doesnt matter.

that is fucked up.

i want to adopt a kid too.

unfortuanally, i used to be a raver that sold esctasy and have a felony for getting caught so i doubt it ever could...

i dont do that stuff anymore and never hurt anyone but still....

 

I'm Jewish. My fiance isn't as he is Native American and has more Earth based beliefs. However, we are going to raise our kids Jewish and we are going to be married in a Jewish ceremony.

 

I don't know why someone would say your kids would never be Jewish. I don't know what the "rules" are in Judaism regarding adopted children, but I'm pretty sure that even Orthodox Jews would merely require that the children go through the conversion rituals. I mean, anyone can become Jewish so there's no reason to think that your kids couldn't be.

I grew up in a Reform congregation and there were plenty of kids from mixed marriages and some that were adopted and I don't remember there being any issues about it whatsoever.

 

You may want to check out Jewish Renewal. They incorporate types of worship less common in Judaism into their services and retreats. My shul has a guy playing a djembe, and there's some meditation worked in -- not that meditation isn't Jewish. The language is also a bit more universal. Some of the founders were inspired by sufism and buddhism, and one of them was formerly lubvavitcher.


Sorry, that was an aside based on the Earth based thing. Depending the age you got the kids, depending whether they were male or female, depending on your movement, the conversion would be different. Conservative and Orthodox require bris for a boy. All movements require mikvah, I think for both. If you got them after a certain age they would need to be taught first, but I'm not sure what that age is.

Ben

 

These people are just being arrogant. I've been told that I'm not a real Jew because I'm a second generation Jew- my parents converted into Judaism. I am a real Jew, and no one is going to tell me otherwise.

 

I found an article on converting infants and other minors.

http://www.convert.org/infant.htm

 

forget about it man, its just orthadox crap, too many rules there, im reformed and all the teens at my temple excluding myself and 1 or 2 others are mixed marriges amd they're still fine and happy. so dont let anyone pressure to do or not do something, man

 

Her issue isn't her own children. If it were they would be Jewish even to the orthodox because she is Jewish. Her issue is adopted kids. Even the reform movement says they need to go in the mikvah first. At that point they are fully Jewish. And they have the right to reject their conversion once they're bar mitzvah age.

 

yeah, its no big deal, all you have to do is raise them jewish and they go through a ritual or two and then they are just as jewish as the rest of us....it is a "sin" for a jew to mention a ger's (converts) past, once he is converted he is as jewish as the next jew.

 

Technically, this only applies to a convert who used to be a Pagan... and Pagan in this sense is the biblical Pagan, not the Pagan that we know. According to the Rabbis, these are two different things, and according to many Rabbis the biblical Pagans don't exist at all anymore. This is all irrellevant though...

My girlfriend and I are making aliyah (moving to Israel), and we want to both adopt and have biological children. We're going to a adopt an Ethiopian Jewish kid, a Yemeni Jewish kid, an Iraqi Jewish kid.... the whole Jewish rainbow will exist in our li'l home (for all intents and purposes she and I are both Ashkenazi, meaning Eastern European, though technically my family goes back to Sephardim, though it doesn't exactly show)...

Point of all this being... I've looked into the issue somewhat... I have some very good friends who are mainstream Orthodox Jews, and they have two adopted children from Korea. They were converted as soon as they were adopted, and all is good. They have their conversion documents to prove that they're Jewish, the same way another person might have their parents kettubah (Jewish wedding contract) or their own naming certificate or something to prove that their mother is Jewish.

I HIGHLY suggest that you get an Orthodox conversion for the children at a VERY young age. Many orthodox rabbis will convert your child even if you're not orthodox, and that way they will have the choice to participate in whatever stream of Judaism they want to participate in. If they are converted Reform or Conservative, if they ever decide to participate in more traditional Jewish communities, they won't be considered Jewish and will have to go through a much more thorough and drawn out conversion process all over again... And if one of the adopted children is a girl, and she has a Reform or Conservative conversion, that same problem could then happen to ANY of her descendents for all of time... It can be messy... I've seen it many times.

Best of luck to you! You're doing one of the greatest mitzvot you could ever do.

b'Shalom.

-Yaakov

 

*Blush* Thank you.

 

Of course you're a real Jew! I'm sorry that that's happening to you! That's more annoying then what's happening to me!

 

Thank you! This link is a HUGE help!

 

I would hope they wouldn't reject their conversion! That would make me sad!

 

You tell those individuals, that you know a 43 year old man who just converted.
They seem to think being Jewish, can only be done by BIRTH. They couldn't be more wrong. You can tell them what you learn about me here.

 

I know these werent Hacidic Jews. (The guys with the Breads, and black hats & Coats?) THEY would never say such a horrible thing!

 

Let them talk, don't bother. It's not about them it's all about you and your (future) adopted child.
And in fact, Abraham and Sarah, the founders of the Jewish people, were not born Jewish...
Good luck, and cheer up!
Shalom

 

my mother had a conservative conversion before my parents were married, but after i was born we started going to a Chabad shul (for those of you who don't know, they are big into outreach, and many people who go to chabad shuls aren't chabad, my family for instance) and after our family became modern orthodox they had an orthodox wedding and i got an orthodox conversion. its happened to some of my friends who came from mixed marriages that they were converted reform or conservative so they can't participate in orthodox shuls.

what are you talking about man? i go to a chasidic shul(lubavitch, the most liberal of the chasidic movements)(though by no means am I chasidic, im modern orthodox) and there are several adopted converted kids in the shul that of course they recognize as jews. there is no reason for anyone to say that someones not jewish as long as they were converted by that group's standards(well, there is the extremist ultra crazy out-of-control-freight-train orthodox guys that say that jews who don't keep mitzvos are not jewish, but they're crazy anyway)

peace
david