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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black">The relationship the adoptive or step-parents have with the children they have actually raised has a functional expression among many halakhists:</span><a name="_ftnref9"></a><a href="http://www.lookstein.org/articles/mourning_adoptive.htm#_ftn9" title=""><sup><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">[9]</span></sup></a><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black"> </span><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">==============================================<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">My general take on this topic is that many halakhists bent over backwards to find solutions to the adoption problems mentioned (e.g. yichud). Perhaps it was
due to the need for orphans to find homes or the human drive for childless couples to have families(especially when dealing with non-Jewish adoptions)? I never found much written about the meta issues and wonder how much the prevailing conditions of the times
influenced the decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">KT<br>
Joel Rich<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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