[sak9645]

It is true that a non-Orthodox conversion may not be accepted if your child by adoption chooses to marry an Orthodox person, or if he/she chooses to move to Israel.

However, not everyone can do an Orthodox conversion of his/her child. There are many Orthodox rabbis who simply will not officiate at the conversion of a child who is not going to be raised in an Orthodox home. And if those rabbis are the only Orthodox rabbis in the area, that could be a problem.

And, of course, there are those people who, themselves, are uncomfortable with converting their child in an Orthodox ceremony, as they do not practice Orthodox Judaism.

But all is not lost. If a child who has been raised in the Reform or Conservative or secular tradition, and who has not been converted in the Orthodox manner, chooses to marry an Orthodox person and live an Orthodox life, he/she can simply go through an Orthodox conversion.

My Chinese daughter, who is now 7, was converted in a Halachically correct mikvah, but by Reform and Conservative female rabbis. She attends a Jewish day school run on the Solomon Schechter model, and is fully accepted there. She has Hebrew studies for 40% of every school week, and reads and writes Hebrew surprisingly well. She also goes to summer camp at the local Jewish community center. We have belonged to a Reform temple, but are considering affiliation with a Conservative synagogue soon.

I have no idea who my wonderful daughter, now 7, will marry. I don't care if he will be White, Asian, or Black. I don't care whether or not he will be a person who was adopted. I fervently hope that he will be actively and religiously (not just bagel-and-lox culturally) Jewish, but I don't care what branch of Judaism he will have been raised in.

I certainly will have no objection if my daughter decides to become Orthodox and to marry an Orthodox man. And my only objection to the notion that she may decide to make Aliyah is that I will likely not see her as often if she lives in Israel. My feeling is that if she chooses to do either of these things, she can always "go skinny dipping" again.


Sharon