Ask the Rabbi: If I can’t have kids, why must we both be Jewish?

Cathy

Dear Cathy:

Thank you for your question and congratulations on the love you two share.

Religious identity is not just something that adults impose on children. Holidays are not just celebrated to give kids something to do. The reason adults work so hard to provide children with a religious identity is the conviction that faith, community, tradition and sacred deeds enrich adult living. That is why Judaism insists that both partners share the same faith -- so they can share this important facet of living, whether or not they have children.

A second, related point: You are made in God's image, and your worth to the Jewish community is not merely that you are a possible source of the next generation, but as an end in and of yourself. Your holiness is not instrumental (what you can do for us) but intrinsic (who you are). That, too, is why Judaism insists that you formally join the faith and the community, whether or not you have children some day.

Rabbi Artson