The Pennsylvania author hopes that by laying out every conceivable issue related to adoption she can strengthen relationships among the estimated 2.7 percent of Jewish families with adopted children. The author counts herself among them. She has two children, one of whom was adopted. In her 298-page book, Rosenberg manages to include scores of adoptive families' personal stories and to cover an amazingly broad array of topics. Some of those include Jewish laws on adoption, Jewish identity issues, sibling relationships, open adoption, searching for birth parents, transcultural and transracial adoption, raising disabled children, adoption for singles or gays and lesbians, and rituals for celebrating adoption.
Jewish tradition is mixed when it comes to adoption.
On the one hand, the Talmud makes numerous positive references to it. At the same time, traditional Judaism also treats adoptees differently. A boy adopted into an Orthodox family of Kohanim or Levites cannot join his father and brothers on the bimah during the first two Torah blessings reserved for the priestly descendants. And under Jewish law, a Kohen cannot marry a woman who was adopted or converted as an adult. Liberal Judaism isn't without its share of problems, though.