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class=Apple-style-span>In response to RKM about how the 10 tribes became
"unJewish."</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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class=Apple-style-span><FONT size=3 face=Calibri>I do not usually quote Torah
from the JPOST, but this was a quick google and right on point from R. Shlomo
Brody. No time to look for more right now, but this should be good for a
start.</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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<H1
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(25,25,25); CLEAR: both; FONT-SIZE: 26px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><SPAN
id=ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_article_control_lblArticleTitle>Ask the Rabbi: Am I
Jewish or not?</SPAN></H1><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(91,91,91); FONT-SIZE: 10px"
class=jp-writer><SPAN id=ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_article_control_lblAuthor><A
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href="mailto:jpostcolumns@gmail.com"><U
title="mailto:jpostcolumns@gmail.com
CTRL + Click to follow link">SHLOMO
BRODY</U></A> </SPAN><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(91,91,91); FONT-SIZE: 9px" class=jp-date><SPAN
id=ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_article_control_lblDateAndHour>09/11/2007
11:58</SPAN><SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></SPAN><BR><BR>
<H2
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id=teaser_val><SPAN
id=ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_article_control_lblArticleTeaser>While a rabbi
vouched for my halachic Jewishness, the tricky part is that although my mother
was born Jewish, she converted to Christianity before my birth.</SPAN></H2><SPAN
id=ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_article_control_lblArtHeader></SPAN></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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id=body_val><SPAN id=ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_article_control_lblArticleBody><B
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Q</B><SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>I
am an American immigrant and am engaged to an Israeli. A Conservative rabbi
vouched for my halachic Jewishness since I was born to a Jewish mother. The
tricky part is that although my mother was born Jewish, she converted to
Christianity well before my birth. I was raised Catholic - from baptism through
confirmation - but my mother later allowed me to<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none !important; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,153,0) 1px solid; POSITION: static; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent !important; FONT-STYLE: normal !important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px !important; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll !important; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px !important; DISPLAY: inline !important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial !important; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 50%; FLOAT: none !important; COLOR: rgb(0,153,0) !important; FONT-SIZE: 12px !important; CURSOR: pointer !important; FONT-WEIGHT: normal !important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline !important; PADDING-TOP: 0px !important; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial"
id=IL_AD5 class=IL_AD>practice</SPAN><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Judaism with friends and their
families. Am I Jewish?<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><B
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">A</B><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Mazal tov! I wish you both happiness
together here. Frequent apostasies to other religions, sometimes willful but
frequently forced, propelled the status of apostates into one of medieval
Jewry's most significant controversies. Scholars struggled to define Jewishness
in a manner that recognized the sociological implications of apostasy but
preserved the inborn nature of<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none !important; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,153,0) 1px solid; POSITION: static; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent !important; FONT-STYLE: normal !important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px !important; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll !important; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px !important; DISPLAY: inline !important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial !important; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 50%; FLOAT: none !important; COLOR: rgb(0,153,0) !important; FONT-SIZE: 12px !important; CURSOR: pointer !important; FONT-WEIGHT: normal !important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline !important; PADDING-TOP: 0px !important; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial"
id=IL_AD4 class=IL_AD>Jewish identity</SPAN>. Three major positions developed in
rabbinic sources. The first contended that an apostate loses his status as a
Jew. These scholars highlighted the talmudic declaration proclaiming descendents
of the Ten Lost Tribes as gentiles (Yevamot 17a). Accordingly, once apostates
become "completely absorbed into their surroundings," they lose their Jewish
status. The apostate's total assimilation into gentile society nullifies his
legal connection to Judaism. Consequently, a deserted spouse does not require a
get (divorce writ) to remarry, since their initial marriage automatically
dissolves. Despite this potential benefit, the vast majority of scholars
contended that apostasy cannot rescindJewish identity. Regarding the national
sin of the golden calf, the Talmud declares, "Even though [the people] have
sinned, they are still [called] Israel" (Sanhedrin 44a). Rashi (1040-1105)
transforms this principle to apply to individual sinners as well. The Talmud,
Rashi and Maimonides claim, rules that even a convert (ger) who later adopts a
different religion retains his status as a Jew (Yevamot 47b). While the Lost
Tribes represent a unique case addressing the historic exile of a mass
community, individuals maintain their inalienable<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Jewish identity. An apostate, no matter
how distant he becomes from the people and its traditions, remains legally a
part of the Jewish nation. Yet this does not necessarily mean "once a Jew,
always a Jew." Many scholars took a middle position by agreeing with Rashi
regarding matters of personal status, but claiming that the apostate loses other
legal privileges. As Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein and Prof. Ya'acov Blidstein have
documented, several medieval rabbis ruled that an apostate loses his inheritance
rights, while others permitted Jews to charge him interest for loans, usually
prohibited to fellow Jews. In other words, an apostate can retain his rank as a
Jew for certain purposes, but lose it for others. Nonetheless, regarding the
central<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none !important; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,153,0) 1px solid; POSITION: static; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent !important; FONT-STYLE: normal !important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px !important; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll !important; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px !important; DISPLAY: inline !important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial !important; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 50%; FLOAT: none !important; COLOR: rgb(0,153,0) !important; FONT-SIZE: 12px !important; CURSOR: pointer !important; FONT-WEIGHT: normal !important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline !important; PADDING-TOP: 0px !important; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial"
id=IL_AD1 class=IL_AD>question</SPAN><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>of their personal status, most scholars
ruled that the apostate retains his Jewishness. This position eased the path for
apostates to repent. Especially in cases of forced conversions, rabbis permitted
remorseful apostates to<SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none !important; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,153,0) 1px solid; POSITION: static; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent !important; FONT-STYLE: normal !important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px !important; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll !important; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px !important; DISPLAY: inline !important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial !important; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 50%; FLOAT: none !important; COLOR: rgb(0,153,0) !important; FONT-SIZE: 12px !important; CURSOR: pointer !important; FONT-WEIGHT: normal !important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline !important; PADDING-TOP: 0px !important; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial"
id=IL_AD3 class=IL_AD>return to the</SPAN><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>community immediately, at most
requiring a symbolic immersion in the mikve or minor penitent actions. This
ruling, however, sometimes tragically stranded women as agunot (abandoned wives
unable to marry), since their still technically Jewish husbands, fully absorbed
into the frequently hostile non-Jewish society, would not issue them a formal
divorce allowing them to remarry. A few sages took an interesting fourth
position that directly addresses your<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>question. They contended that while the
apostate remains a Jew, we treat his children as gentiles. This position,
sometimes attributed to the author of Halachot Gedolot (eighth century), might
stem from the child's assimilation at birth into gentile culture. R. Ya'acov ibn
Habib (16th century) gave a different explanation, postulating that while the
apostate was "conceived and born in holiness" to faithful Jews, his children,
offspring of sinners, were not. Yet few accepted this opinion, contending that
the "holiness" of<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Jewish
identity<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>granted at birth stems
from formal biological criteria, not the spiritual commitment of the parents. As
long as their biological mother was born Jewish, the children of apostates
retain their legal<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>Jewish
identity, and require no formal conversion<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none !important; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,153,0) 1px solid; POSITION: static; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent !important; FONT-STYLE: normal !important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px !important; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll !important; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px !important; DISPLAY: inline !important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial !important; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 50%; FLOAT: none !important; COLOR: rgb(0,153,0) !important; FONT-SIZE: 12px !important; CURSOR: pointer !important; FONT-WEIGHT: normal !important; TEXT-DECORATION: underline !important; PADDING-TOP: 0px !important; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial"
id=IL_AD2 class=IL_AD>process</SPAN><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>should they<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>return to the<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>fold (Pit'hei Teshuva YD 268:10). If
the details you provide are accurate, then the overwhelming majority of rabbis
would affirm your Jewishness. One notable exception is Rabbi Moshe Feinstein,
who ruled that a child born to a non-Jewish father and an apostate mother
requires full conversion (Igrot Moshe EH 1:8). Although Rabbi Feinstein
creatively advocates this position in a fascinating excursus (Dibrot Moshe
Yevamot 1:13), the rabbinic consensus rejects this opinion (Tzitz Eliezer
13:93). Therefore, your case will thankfully not erupt into a dispute between
different denominations. As someone born into the Catholic community, however,
you will need to prove your mother's Jewishness. As with all cases of personal
status, you should consult with a local rabbi to certify your Jewish pedigree
and prevent any future doubts regarding your status.<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><I style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The
writer, a rabbi, is the on-line editor of TraditionOnline.org and teaches in
Jerusalem, where he is pursuing a doctorate in Jewish philosophy at Hebrew
University.</I></SPAN></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></BODY></HTML>