On Friday, January 8, 2010 I was asked the following question:

An interesting question was posed to me by a divorced mother of 3 sons.

It seems that her ex-husband, who is not Jewish and not the least bit fond of his ex, told their three grown sons that, because they didn't have a brit milah as infants, they aren't Jewish, despite the mother being fully Jewish. Needless to say, she was devastated and asked me my opinion.

This was my response:

My response was that opinion; mine or anyone else's has nothing to do with the question posed. Halacha is the only valid opinion and, that code clearly and definitively states that the child of a Jewish mother, regardless of his/her upbringing, is 100% authentically Jewish. There is a caveat. By not having a Bris Milah, the sons are in violation of Jewish Law. In other words, they are considered "sinners". Albeit, fully Jewish "sinners". I recommended that, if they were so inclined, to undergo a symbolic Bris...this involves the letting of a drop of blood from the head of the penis (it's way too late for a full Brit...the trauma and the recovery period would make this prohibitive). In the event that either of them wanted to marry a Jewish woman who is even semi-observant, they would have to endure a complete Bris at that time.

If you have questions about a personal matter, or jewish practices and customs, you can submit them to me by e-mail. I answer all queries directly, or through this column, when the question is informative to our community.

Thank you for your kind attention and this opportunity to share with you,
Rabbi Dan S. Wiko
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