Confused about my Jewish identity.

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I know I need to consult a Rabbi about this, and I will do, but I want to try and mentally prepare myself first.

I have always believed I am Jewish. I was brought up Jewish. I live a Jewish life. Attend synagogue, keep kosher, observe Shabbat and the festivals, I am part of the community. I am bringing my kids up Jewish. I feel Jewish. It is part of me. It is part of my identity. I have always believed my mother to be Jewish (and so has she) and my grandmother.

We have recently found out that my grandmother was a convert. It was a bit of a surprise, but there are no issues with this, other than we found out she converted after my mother was born. When my mother was young (4/5 years old) they moved from Glasgow to northern England. No one ever knew my grandmother was a convert. My mother has questioned whether this makes her really a Jewish person because she technically wasn’t born to a Jewish mother and has never converted.

That then leads to me. I’ve been mulling this around in my head for a few days. What does this mean for me? And for my kids? Have we been living a lie? Are we Jewish? Or not? I am very confused right now.

I look forward to your words of wisdom and hopefully I can sleep now I’ve written down my worries and asked the questions.

It of course depends on what your rabbi says as every single strand of Judaism will have their own laws. I'm a part of a liberal congregation and we just had a woman who converted who had young children. The children were a part of the ceremony and attend the cheder so are now Jewish according to our community. However I have no idea if they'd be considered Jewish in an orthodox scenario or have the right to return to Israel etc.

In these cases the Beit Din will usually convert any children who are already born. Your mother may be too young to remember this.

Did your parents have a Jewish wedding? If your mum has a ketuba then she was accepted as Jewish by the rabbi who conducted her wedding, and therefore you are Jewish, too.

Especially if your grandmother is/was an observant Jew, it would be very strange for your mother not to have undegone conversion.

Was the Beit Din Orthodox?

Best of luck on your journey of discovery!

It must be a terrible shock, OP, but the truth is that I'm sure that going back there are more of these cases than we would imagine. Agreed it would be very unusual to convert without one's child. If your mum has a ketuba then that is sufficient. Otherwise, there is a concept of geirus l'chumra, which is intended to clear up any doubt, though might not be ideal if you are married to a Cohen or any of your daughters are likely to, although I think this is a case where the LBD takes points that no other beit din in the world would bother with.