[Avodah] Status of Non-Jew born to Jewish Father

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Allen Gerstl <acgerstl at hotmail.com>
>>:I have a  good friend who is a mohel.  His practice in such 
circumstances when the  parents indicate that they wish to have the child later 
converted to Judaism and  raise the child in accordance with halacha (and I assume 
that usually in such  cases the mother expresses an interest in herself 
converting in accordance with  halacha) has been to perform the mila in front of 
two Jews who together with  himself are constituted as a beit din so that 
the mila is for the purpose of  future conversion. He then writes out a teudat 
mila (a certificate of  conversion) in which he refers to the fact that the 
child is not Jewish but that  the mila was done for the purpose of future 
conversion. He explains the facts to  the parents beforehand,and emphasizes 
that tevilah with conversion before a  proper beit din is required. All of 
the latter must be done pleasantly and  diplomatically with sensitivity to the 
parents' feelings.
 
The first volume of the Yesodei Yeshurun by Rav Gedalia Felder, z"l  deals 
with questions of conversion of babies and children when they are not  
bar/bat mitzvah age..... <<
KT
Eliyahu

 
 
>>>>>
Based on the mesorah in which I was raised, I would strongly disagree with  
your friend's approach.  Converting a baby when the mother is not Jewish  
and will not be raising the baby in a Jewish, Torah home is just plain  
wrong.  Helping the Jew who married out to avoid the consequences of his  action 
is also just plain wrong.
 
The halachos regarding the conversion of children do not apply in such a  
case.  They would apply in the following two cases:  1. Where a Jewish  
couple are adopting a non-Jewish baby and 2. Where a non-Jewish woman is  
converting (with the full intention of leading a frum life and keeping the  Torah!) 
and she wishes to convert her children with her.  (Her husband  might be 
Jewish and becoming a BT or he may be a goy and the whole family is  
converting.)
 
It is totally, completely, absolutely wrong to do a bris for the child of a 
 Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, period.  
 
Doing it "for gerus" only blurs the line, indeed obliterates the line,  
between Jew and non-Jew, between in-marriage and out-marriage.  We don't go  
out of our way to hurt people's feelings but nor do we attempt to smooth over  
Judaism's rejection of out-marriage.  
 
If a frum mohel does the bris in front of a gathering of Jewish friends and 
 family, he may actually give the impression that out-marriage is  
acceptable.  Or worse, he may give the impression that the mother is Jewish  and the 
baby is Jewish, and fully part of the Jewish community.  If people  think 
the woman is Jewish when she isn't, that's a major problem.  And if  they 
think that we are now accepting the Reform position ("Anyone who thinks  he's 
Jewish, is") that's an even bigger problem.  There is just no way to  spin a 
pretend-bris for a non-Jewish baby as a good thing.
 
We have to be nice to people but we do not have to clean up Reform and  
Conservative messes.  It is not our fault that Jews marry non-Jews and it  is 
not our job to pretend that that's OK.  It's not our job to cover up for  
them and make the boo boo all better.  If we will not be true to the  Torah, 
for G-d's sake, who will?  Who will?  
 
--Toby Katz
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