[Avodah] Jew Or Not?

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger wrote:
> Even without any safeiq in her yichus, we would require
> miqvah and qabbalas divrei chaveirus in front of a BD.
> Reaffirming a return to the Jewish faith, even if already
> born into the Jewish people.

I hope that you were writing quickly, and didn't really intend that the BD would *require* this, especially for a case "without any safeiq in her yichus".

I greatly fear what could happen if they insist on these things, and she responds with something like, "Either I'm Jewish, or I'm not. But I'm not going to convert." And everything stops there, and she continues her life under the mistaken impression that those rabbis consider her to be non-Jewish, and she quotes those rabbis to her daughter.

I have always thought mikveh in theses cases to be a great idea, but purely for psychological reasons, not halachic ones, and this should be made clear to the individual. (I am not referring to cases where a reasonable safek *is* present.)

Akiva Miller

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