ADOPTION OF A JEWISH CHILD

"He who raises someone else's child is regarded as if he had actually brought him into this world." (Sanhedrin, 19 b).

Jewish Law does not regard children as the property of their parents. Therefore, the notion of transferring title of the child through adoption simply does not exist. Halakha regards the relationship between children and natural parents as irrevocable.

Still, the idea of spiritual parenthood does exist. "He who raises someone else's child is regarded as if he had actually brought him into this world. (Sanhedrin, 19 b). It is acknowledged as one of he noblest acts of chesed (charity) and love.

The adoption process of a Jewish child does not change who his natural parents are, and therefore neither does it change the child's religious status. If the natural father was or is a Cohen or a Levite the child remains so. If there is a need to make a Pedyon Ha-Ben (link), that ceremony has to be performed.

However, in view of the close spiritual ties between adoptive parents and child, the adoptive parent may rename the child in the synagogue. If it is a boy, the Brit Milah (circumcision) has to be performed, if a medical circumcision has been performed, then only a hatafat dam (Blood drop) is necessary .

Adopted children are also expected to show reverence and mourn the deceased adoptive parent as they would for natural parents. They recite the Kadish, and observe all the laws of mourning.

Reform:

The Bible and Talmud contain many examples of adoption like arrangements. When he feared he would die childless, Abraham designated Eliezer as his heir. In an act that resembled modern surrogacy, Abraham fathered Ishmael with Sarah's handmaiden Hagar. Moerdecai assumes the guardianship of Esther when her mother and father died. Michal's raised her sister's five sons.

The Talmud teaches, "Anyone who raises an orphan in his home, scripture considers him as if he gave birth to him." On the other hand, while the Bible appears to sanction surrogacy in Abraham's story, it subordinates the status of Ishmael in favor of Isaac, the son Abraham subsequently fathered with Sarah. This is dramatically symbolized by Sarah's banishing of Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness.

More generally, Jewish law lacks a formal procedure for adoption because of the primacy it accords biological kinship in determining a child's inheritance rights and religious and tribal status.