My "Conversion"

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I was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, both of whom were committed to raising their children Jewish. Shortly after I was born, I had a naming ceremony officiated by the rabbi of the congregation of which my parents were members. We were active in the temple and celebrated Shabbat and other Jewish holidays. We went to the monthly family Shabbat service and dinner and my mom was an active volunteer. My brother and I attended religious school through tenth grade and celebrated Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah at 13. We went to a Jewish day school for four years and two years, respectively. We participated in youth group and went to Jewish summer camp. In summary, we were an involved Reform Jewish family.

When I was about four and my brother was about one, my mother converted to Judaism. Jewish conversions involve immersion in a special pool of water called a mikvah. My mother entered the water under the supervision of our Reform rabbi and, in the eyes of the Reform community of which we were a part, this was a valid conversion and my mother was now a Jew.

The strange part about the conversion was that my brother and I also entered the mikvah and were "converted". In the Orthodox movement, one is considered Jewish if he or she is born to a Jewish mother or if he is she converts under the guidance of an Orthodox rabbi. However, the Reform movement identifies people as Jewish if their mother or father (or both) is Jewish and they are raised as Jews, or if they convert to Judaism.

I believe it wasn't until I was a teenager and found our conversion certificates that I realized my brother and I had also participated in the conversion. Apparently it was thought otherwise, but in reality the conversion of my brother and me did absolutely nothing to change our status as Jews. In the eyes of the Reform movement, we were born Jewish because of our Jewish father, and according to the Orthodox movement, we are still not Jewish because the conversion was done by a Reform rabbi. I continue to be baffled that I went through a conversion even though, according to the Reform movement in which we were primarily raised, my brother and I have been Jewish since birth.