A Jewish mother

General information only. Every case is decided by a rabbi.

What matrilineal descent means

In halacha, Jewish identity passes through the mother. Your mother is Jewish if her own mother was Jewish, or if she converted according to halacha. Her children are Jewish too, whether or not the family practised, and whether or not anyone ever spoke about it.

Being Jewish isn’t something you lose by growing up far from it. Many men discover it in their thirties, fifties or seventies. It was always yours.

How it’s usually confirmed

What usually needs confirming is your mother’s status, and sometimes her mother’s. A rabbi works from whatever you have, for example:

• your parents’ or grandparents’ ketubah (Jewish marriage contract)
• birth, marriage or immigration records that list religion or nationality
• a grave in a Jewish cemetery, or a family member’s synagogue membership
• what relatives remember, and family letters or photographs

Sometimes the picture is clear quickly. Sometimes a beit din needs to look more closely. You don’t need any documents to make the first call, and if you don’t have a rabbi, we can help you find one.

A story worth remembering

One of our mohalim once met a man in Central America, warm, fluent in English, and a great friend of the Jewish people. In the middle of a conversation, they realized his mother was Jewish. On a later visit, something came back to him: he had had a brit when he was about eight years old, more than fifty years earlier, and had been given a Jewish name.

The sad part is that he no longer remembers the name, and there’s no certificate to show what was done.

Keep the records

If you, your father or your sons have a brit certificate, a Hebrew name written down, a ketubah or any family document, keep it safe. Take a photo, and give copies to your children. One piece of paper can answer a question decades later.

And the brit?

For a Jewish man who never had a brit, brit milah remains a mitzvah at any age. If you were circumcised in a hospital, a rabbi will usually advise hatafat dam brit instead. Either way, nothing is arranged until we’ve spoken.