What does Jewish law say about adoption

In Judaism, adoption is an important as well as an intricate issue. Although the Jewish Law recognizes adoption as a legitimate way to build a family, it also evokes conflicting messages, known as halakhah, in regards to adoption. Emphasizing greatly on bloodlines and ancestry, Judaism prioritizes tradition with respect to adoption.

A child that is legally adopted under the Jewish Law and is being brought up in a traditional Jewish household is not considered an adoptee. In regards to the Jewish religion, the adopted child is considered part of the family. However, for a Jewish family that wishes to adopt a non-Jewish child, there is always an additional filter that respects the Jewish tradition through generations of Jewish families.

Under the Jewish Law, an adopted child is duty-bound in the laws of death and mourning in the event of a loss of a close relative, namely mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, son or daughter. Considered as an immediate family, the adopted child recites the traditional mourner’s prayer (Kaddish) for 12 months and is obligated in the laws of mourning.

Jewish adoptive parents should carefully consider how they communicate respect for the Jewish religion to the adopted child without diminishing the importance of the birth parents’ religion. Particularly, when it comes to open adoptions and the birth family is not Jewish, the child is likely to raise questions about the Jewish religion, the birth parents’ religion, the differences between the two, why they exist, which is better etc. In these cases, both adoptive and placing parents should communicate in a respectful way and should follow a common way on explaining all these questions to the child without prejudices and conflict.

In many cases, there are conflicts between the different factions of Judaism, namely Orthodox, Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative. Under the Jewish Law, an adopted child whose birth mother is not Jewish should be officially converted to Judaism. However, if the birth father is Jewish, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews do not proceed to conversion, while Orthodox Jews recognize conversions performed solely by Orthodox Rabbis.

All these complexities create additional challenges in regards to adoption under the Jewish Law. For children who are not born Jewish and have different race and culture in their genes, it is a difficult challenge to connect with a Jewish family, particularly when outsiders question this connection. There are cases that Chinese children are adopted by Jewish families and because their characteristics are so unique, they have been told that they are not Jewish. The same has happened with blond children with blue eyes, who do not look like typical Jews and again their identity has been questioned by third parties at school or even at the synagogue.

For all adopted children is difficult to create a solid identity. Jewish adoptive families should help children who are not born Jewish to develop a strong Jewish identity. On the other hand, they should respect the challenges that evoke from the birth family’s religion. There are cases that Jewish children have celebrated Christmas with their birth parents because the Jewish adoptive parents have accepted that their child should make his or her own choices. In any event, communication is the key.