עברית
Faith
Does a Jew Who Converts to Christianity Remain Jewish?
Question
A person born Jewish to Jewish parents in Israel moved to America and at age 31 converted to Catholic Christianity. To this day, he is a strong believer in Catholicism, married as a Catholic, and has a Catholic family. He changed his Jewish name to a Christian name. He still loves the Jewish religion, enjoys Jewish and Israeli folklore, and appreciates cantorial melodies, among other things. His Jewish family claims "once Jewish, always Jewish." He does not think so. What do you say? Thank you.
Answer
Greetings, Anyone born Jewish, even if they have converted to another religion, still remains Jewish, as our Sages state in Tractate Sanhedrin (page 44a), "A Jew remains a Jew even if he sins." Moreover, the Rema (Yoreh Deah, end of chapter 343) writes that a Jewish apostate who does teshuvah (repentance) does not need to immerse in a mikvah, though rabbinically he should immerse and accept the yoke of the commandments before three witnesses.
Blessings, Hillel Meirs
