CIRCUMCISING CHILD OF AN APOSTATE MOTHER

QUESTION:

The Jewish wife in a mixed marriage has given birth to a baby boy. They want the child circumcised. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that the mother has converted to Christianity. Should this child be circumcised? (Asked by Rabbi Michael B. Berk, San Jose, California.)

ANSWER:

Since the mother was born Jewish and the child follows the status of the mother, the only question involved is the fact that the mother has converted to Christianity. Nevertheless, in the eyes of Jewish law, she is still Jewish and her child is Jewish, and there is no reason why there should not be a bent milah.

Now as to the question of the wife having converted to Christianity. The easiest way to deal with the relevance of this statement is to consider the status of an apostate in Jewish law The specific question then becomes this: Has the woman’s conversion to Christianity abolished her status as a Jewess in the eyes of Jewish law?

The answer to this question is negative. If a Jew converts to Christianity, he is considered a sinner, of course, but as the Talmud (Sanhedrin 44a) says: “Although a sinner, he is still an Israelite.” This is more than a social statement. It is a legal principle. A woman married to an apostate must receive a get from him and he can validly give it. In other words, he has legal status as a Jew. This applies to her also. Regardless of her conversion, the child should have a berit milah. Certainly her apostasy does not change the status of the infant.