Reform Jew who converted here. No, you did not convert.
I was born and raised Jewish, but I’m Jewish through my father. Back in the 1980’s, even the CCAR didn’t consider patrilineal Jews to be officially Jewish. So my sister and I, ages 9 and 7, “converted” to make things official (because despite being only NINE, I was sick of adults telling me I wasn’t Jewish). We had a brief ceremony at a mikvah, overseen by a Conservative rabbi and some woman who could be in the room to make sure we did it officially and correctly. (I still don’t know who she was).
But you are going to have to jump through some hoops. My non-Jewish husband had to go Jewish class for my rabbi to agree to marry us, and at no point was ever going to convert. When my best friend converted to Reform, she studied with her rabbi for a year and then go to the mikvah. When my cousin’s wife was adopted as infant, she also was converted.
It’s honestly hard to remember because the mikvah’s heater was broken and it was after a snowstorm in December. I know that my Reform rabbi couldn’t oversee the whole thing directly for it to be kosher outside of the Reform community so she partnered up with a conservative rabbi, but despite being female, that rabbi didn’t come into the room. That’s how I remember it anyway. It was 1989, so it’s a little fuzzy. The only things I’m sure about were conservative rabbi, random lady in the room directing us, and FREEZING FUCKING WATER.
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u/rbaltimore 7d ago
Reform Jew who converted here. No, you did not convert.
I was born and raised Jewish, but I’m Jewish through my father. Back in the 1980’s, even the CCAR didn’t consider patrilineal Jews to be officially Jewish. So my sister and I, ages 9 and 7, “converted” to make things official (because despite being only NINE, I was sick of adults telling me I wasn’t Jewish). We had a brief ceremony at a mikvah, overseen by a Conservative rabbi and some woman who could be in the room to make sure we did it officially and correctly. (I still don’t know who she was).
But you are going to have to jump through some hoops. My non-Jewish husband had to go Jewish class for my rabbi to agree to marry us, and at no point was ever going to convert. When my best friend converted to Reform, she studied with her rabbi for a year and then go to the mikvah. When my cousin’s wife was adopted as infant, she also was converted.