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Question:

I was approached by a woman with the following story:

"At age 52 I learned that my maternal grandmother was an orphan and was Jewish. As a baby she was placed in a Catholic household and reared as a Catholic. She reared my mother as a Catholic and my mother reared me as a Catholic.

The story generated the following questions: "What is my status according to Jewish law? What is the status of my children according to Jewish law?" She is genuinely curious. I look forward to your response. Thank you very much.



AskTheRabbi.org answered:

She is Jewish. If the facts are true as she has stated them, then she is 100 percent Jewish, and so are her children. This is so because a person's Jewishness is determined by the mother.

    Sources:
  • Tractate Kiddushin 66b & 68b
  • Code of Jewish Law, Even Haezer 8:5

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