I

World

Unique Obstacles

Conversion for those raised Jewish? Rabbis address patrilineal problem.

Sue Fishkoff

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

San Francisco

W

hen David Levine stepped
into the mikvah last year, he
believed he was affirming what
he already was, not converting to something
new
"I was raised Jewish, was always told I was
Jewish',' says the 35-year-old Californian,
who did not want his real name used. "I went
to Jewish camps, even had a bar mitzvah."
But when Levine joined a Conservative
congregation after his marriage, the rabbi
told him that because his mother was not
Jewish, he needed a legal conversion. That
was hard to hear, Levine says, even though
the rabbi was "very sensitive" and moved
him quickly through the study process.
Levine views his mikvah experience
— the final step in conversion — as very
different than for a person with no Jewish
parents or grandparents.
"I felt Jewish all along," he says. "I didn't
see it as a break with the past. It was just sort
of a continuum:'
Rabbis nationally, especially Conservative
rabbis, are seeing more and more of these
cases: young adults with Jewish fathers and
non-Jewish mothers, people who have spent

their lives in the Jewish community, corn-
ing forward to seek conversion. Rabbis and
candidates alike say it requires different sen-
sibilities and a different approach.
"The conversion process is the same, but
the emotional journey is very different,"
says Rabbi Avis Miller of Congregation Adas
Israel in Washington, a longtime advocate
of greater outreach to the adult children of
intermarried parents."They already feel part
of the Jewish family"
According to national figures, approxi-
mately 1.5 million Americans have one
Jewish and one non-Jewish parent. More
than 360,000 of them are between the ages
of 18 and 29, the product of the first big
surge of intermarriage in the late 1970s and
early '80s.
Many of those young adults with non-
Jewish mothers grew up in the Reform
movement, which since 1983 has accepted
patrilineal as well as matrilineal descent.
In earlier generations, they may have been
excluded from the Jewish community; now,
like Levine, they are raised Jewish.
As adults, some decide to undergo formal
conversion. Some seek out Orthodox rabbis.
Some ask Reform rabbis, although conver-
sion is not needed for Reform recognition.
But the largest number are found in the
Conservative movement, which requires con-
version of people with non-Jewish mothers.

Whole Gneration
Rabbi Michael Siegel of the Anshe Emet
congregation in Chicago sees many more
of these cases than he did 20 years ago. He
attributes that to "an entire generation grow-
ing up under Reform auspices."
Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president
of the Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbinic arm
of the Conservative movement, says they
are most often people who "grew up very
involved with Judaism and the Jewish people,
who think of themselves as Jewish."
As a result, he says, "We try very hard, with
great sensitivity and compassion, to work
with them."
Each conversion candidate meets with
a sponsoring rabbi, Meyers explains, who
ascertains the candidate's Jewish knowledge,
observance level and commitment to the
Jewish people. Those with strong enough
Jewish backgrounds may not have to study
much, if at all. For them, the conversion "is
more of a technicality' one Conservative
rabbi explained.
Because their conversion experience is dif-
ferent, so is the terminology used to describe
what they are going through.
Miller is one of a growing number of rab-
bis who use the word "affirmation." Siegel
prefers to call it a "completion," explaining,
"I tell them, As far as I'm concerned, you're
Jewish. But every people has its definition of

Jenny Balmagia, left, who was raised
Jewish in Los Angeles and converted as
part of her bat mitzvah process, with
her mother, J.B. Whitney, who is not
Jewish.

citizenship. It's not a judgment, it's a formal-
ity. We want to celebrate your Jewishness and
complete it from a legal perspective."'
Sensitivity is needed, these rabbis say,
because many such adult children of
intermarried parents resent having their
Jewishness questioned.
"They say, 'But we're Jews! We're not con-
verting!"' says Rabbi Stu Kelman of Netivot
Shalom in Berkeley, Calif "I understand what
they're saying, but since matrilineality is a
Conservative movement standard, we have to
take a strong but compassionate stance.
"The initial reaction is one of resentment.

Unique Obstacles on page 28

Converting Locally

Area rabbis oversee
few patrilineal
conversions.

Shell! Liebman Dorfman

Senior Writer

L

ocal Conservative rabbis may
not be noticing an increase in
conversions among patrilineal
Jews, but they describe an array of cer-
emonies at which they have officiated
for members of this group.
"One type is when a Jewish father
and non-Jewish mother want their chil-
dren to be Jewish," said Rabbi Elliot
Pachter of Congregation B'nai Moshe in
West Bloomfield. "If the mother is not
going to convert but the couple is sin-
cere in their commitment to a Jewish
home, we do the conversion of the chil-
dren. We do the rituals: brit milah for a

boy, mikvah for girls and boys. Nothing
further, so long as the children are
receiving a Jewish education."
He also has officiated at the con-
versions of young adults, raised as
Jews by a Jewish father and non-
Jewish mother, who decide on their
own to participate in a Conservative
conversion. "This often comes about
when planning for a life-cycle event,
like a wedding," Rabbi Pachter said.
"Sometimes the person knows that his
or her Jewish status is questionable;
sometimes it comes as a complete sur-
prise to him or her.
"As long as the person always lived
as a Jew, we make the conversion
relatively simple, requiring mikvah
– assuming brit milah was already done
for males – and a belt din [rabbinical
court], but not an extended period
of study." If the child was not raised
Jewish, the conversion process is the
same as for non-Jews.
Rabbi Pachter has seen about one

of each type of case per
year with no recent rise.
Rabbi Daniel Wolpe
of Congregation Beth
Shalom in Oak Park has
A
seen no increase in the
Rabbi Pachter
number of patrilineal
conversions he has over-
seen. Rabbi Wolpe has officiated at
the conversion of five individuals with
Jewish fathers in his 11-year rabbinic
career and has just begun lessons with
the sixth, this one at Beth Shalom.
The rabbi has been in the Detroit area
seven months.
"The three main reasons I have
heard are: they want to marry some-
one who is Conservative and therefore
must convert; they have been study-
ing and learning and have now come
to believe that they fit better into the
Conservative mold; and they do not
want their status as Jews to be ques-
tioned by anyone," Rabbi Wolpe said.
At Adat Shalom Synagogue in

Rabbi Wolpe

Rabbi Nevins

Farmington Hills, Rabbi Daniel Nevins
performs conversions for those with
Jewish fathers. "While the external pro-
cess is the same, the internal one is
different. Often the candidate already
identifies as Jewish, so the rabbi needs
to be sensitive and respectful of that
feeling. My explanation is that Judaism
is a religion of rituals.
"It is not enough to feel that it is
Shabbat; we need to light candles. It is
not enough to feel that it is Passover;
we need to eat matzah and maror. So,
too, with Jewish identity, there is a rit-
ual for making it official. This is also a
time to affirm core commitments to the
study of Torah and a life of mitzvot." LJ

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April I9 2007

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