Ask the Expert: How Can An Infant Become a Jew?
• var addthis_pub=”mjl08″;var addthis_options = ‘favorites, digg, delicious, myspace, google, facebook, reddit, live, more’; Question: My husband and I are both Jewish. We are planning to adopt a child whose birth mother is not Jewish (the birth father is unknown), and we hope to raise the child Jewish. Does the baby have to have a formal conversion? Is it really possible to convert babies, since they don’t have free will and can’t actually choose to become Jewish? –Sarah, Jacksonville Answer: Conversion is one of the stickiest wickets in the Jewish world today, Sarah. Conversions of all denominations are being called into question by various institutions and organizations, and everyone is trying to answer the complex question, “Who is a Jew?” Halakhah (Jewish law) does allow for the conversion of babies and children under the assumption that being Jewish is a privilege that the child would want. The caveat is that when the child is 12 or 13 he or she must be presented with the option
