Adoption
Although Jewish tradition
considers the most acceptable option for
a couple is to reproduce and bear their
own offspring, adoption is a possible solution
for couples who cannot have children. The
adopting family is responsible for the child’s
upbringing and needs, including food, clothing
and an education. According to Jewish law,
the biological parents are still compelled
to make sure the child has a decent childhood.
Once a child has been adopted, the adoptee
must be treated as if it were biologically
the adopter’s own. The adoptee is required
to honor and respect his/her parents in
accordance with the laws of the Torah.
Furthermore, while the child is not required
to mourn,
sit shiva, or recite the Kaddish at the loss of a parent; due to the emotional
connection it is accepted as common practice.
If the child is not Jewish upon adoption, he (or she)
must go through a full conversion ceremony prior to the adoptee’s Bar
(or Bat) Mitzvah. Additionally, a child adopted from unknown parents
must also go through a conversion to be considered Jewish. Upon the
date of the Bar (or Bat) Mitzvah the child must choose whether or not
to accept Judaism. Once the adoptee
has consented to the values and responsibilities of becoming a Jew,
he (or she) is considered a full member within the Jewish community.
While the adopted child may be permitted to take on
the name of the assuming family, according to Jewish law the child is
hereditarily tied to his (or her) biological parents. If the child’s
biological father is a Cohen or Levi by Jewish tradition, and the child is a boy, so too must he
accept these priestly customs. Although discouraged, the adoptee child
may even marry a person from the adopting family. Since the child is
not from the adopting family’s hereditary blood this marriage
would not be considered incest.
Sources: Eisenberg, Ronald L. The
JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. PA: Jewish Publication Society,
2004; Kolatch, Alfred J. The
Jewish Book of Why/The Second Jewish Book of Why. NY: Jonathan
David Publishers, 1989. . |