Letting baby cry without consoling him

Question for a friend

Posted 06/30/2009

A friend of mine asked me a question related to her sister. Her sister was brought up Catholic, but married a Jewish man. She had a baby boy on June 27th and last night told her mom and my friend that they would be having a bris. She also told her that the MIL already had a flight, so knew about it, and they were just being told. Her mother and my friend are really upset. I know in the eyes of our religion the baby is what the mother is, but besides a bris is there anything else that would have to be done to convert the baby? Obviously the mother of the baby has no real ties to her religion and doesn't practice so doesn't really care. My friend was just wondering what was needed for the baby to associate with one religion or another.




Mom to J. 1/21/06 and

M. and D. 12/27/07

Comments (4)

Posted 06/30/2009

Um, a bris is enough in and of itself.  An actual conversion ceremony is necessary for the baby.  Does your friend's sister belong to a shul?  does her husband have a rabbi?  They need to consult with them.

Posted 06/30/2009


it depends who you ask, of course =)

according to orthodox jews, a non-jew CANNOT become a jew unless he

1) has a bris (if he's a man)

2)dips in the mikva

3)*accepts all of the mitzvos*

and a couple of other small things

so even when babies are converted they have to re-accept this upon themselves when they become bar/bas mitzva, otherwise they are *not* jewish.  again, according to orthodoxy.



Esther, WAHM to 2 dds + 1 ds born 8/29!

If someone is stupid, and you are smarter than them, it doesn't make you smart - it just makes you less stupid.

Posted 06/30/2009

We researched this with our son, who was born of a non-Jewish mother.  He had a circ in the hospital before we adopted him (or even knew about him).  My husband is not Jewish but we're going to raise our son Jewish. Still, I wanted him converted so that he would be Jewish by law and not just by custom and upbringing.

ffb is correct. The three steps to conversion are: (1) circ. (for a boy or man); (2) immersion in mikveh or natural body of running water [we're using the ocean this weekend]; and (3) reaffirmation, which if the person was converted as a baby, is typically the Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

I am very excited that our son will be "officially" Jewish.


Group Owner
Posted 06/30/2009

and she should also be aware tht if she chooses to convert her son NOT via the Orthodox route that the conversion will not be recognized by Orthodox law. So if he would ever want to marry someone from a traditional background or decide to be more observant he may have to convert Orthodox, and that is a lengthly (could be many years) process. Therefore it would be prudent of them to approach an Orthodox rabbi, so to ensure that their son can make any choice he wants later on in life.



My cakes on FB! On my site!

What's on your mind?

Create a new post

Please sign in

This field is required.
This field is required.