<HTML>1. A yeshivah should accept only those students who, in its honest
opinion are halakhically Jewish.
2. It is only the student who must be Jewish. There is certainly no
reason to refuse a Jewish education to, say, the child of a Jewish mother
and a father who is a Reform convert.
3. In this case, the child should be quietly converted. See Iggerot
Moshe, Even ha-Ezer, vol. 4, responsum 26. Negotiating this conversion
is a test of the principal's tact and interpersonal skills. The more
quiet the discussion and the conversion, the better the possibilities of
not making this into a public political issue.
4. Inasmuch as the mother's status is probably known in the community,
there may be some questions raised by community members. The principal
has no business providing any information about any conversions--just as
he or she would provide no information on medical treatment given a
student. The principal should reply to any questions with a general
statement: We take only those children who, in our opinion, are
halakhically Jewish.
5. If the mother goes along with this, she should be welcomed as an
active parent-worker in the same way any born-Reform Jew would. At some
later date, one might bring up the issue of her own conversion.
Joel B. Wolowelsky
jbw@pppmail.appliedtheory.com</HTML>
