Is a male considered Jewish if his dad is Jewish and his mom is not jewish but the dad had his male child have a brit-millah

Question

I have uncles and cousins who married non-Jewish women but had their boys have brit-millah when they were babies. Are they considered Jewish under orthodox Judaism?

Answer 1

No they are not Jewish.

Judaism is inherited from the mother. Having or not having a bris has no effect on if a person is Jewish.

I'm a little surprised the child had a brit - usually the mohel (person doing the circumcision) checks first if the child is actually Jewish to avoid situations like this. Perhaps it was a medical circumcision not a brit?

Also, you ask "under orthodox Judaism", but I believe this is true under most branches. (With the notable exception of Reform - but even they require that the child be a continual part of the Jewish community, which I suppose, is their version of conversion.)

But, I'm glad you asked - these differing definitions are a cause of some huge problems in the Jewish community, especially when someone becomes a Ba'al Teshuvah and then wishes to get married.