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There are children who cannot be converted, such as a child with
Down syndrome, or who suffers from any other mental deficiency.
This is because the gemara says in Kesuvos (11a): “A minor who con-
verts is immersed in a mikvah under beis din’s aegis.” Rashi explains:
“‘Under beis din’s aegis’ – three [members of beis din] must attend his
immersion, as with every conversion and they become like a father to
him and he becomes a convert through them.” The Meiri adds: “The
minor’s case shall be handled by beis din just like a son’s affairs are
handled by his father, for it is a merit for him to be converted and
merit can be accrued for a person who is not present, therefore we
benefit the minor even though it is as though he is not present.”

All this applies only when the child will attain intellectual maturity
and assume obligation in all the mitzvos. However, if he is mentally
deficient and will never assume mitzvah obligation there is no way
that he can be converted2. However, the child we are discussing can
be converted and adopted.

Now, it says in the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 268:12), “If no
pretext is found [i.e. after investigating a prospective convert’s motiva-
tion, no ulterior motive for his desire to convert is found], we inform
him of the heavy yoke of Torah and the effort that its fulfillment
entails for ignoramuses, so that they will retract. If they accept [the
Torah] and do not retract, and we see that they lovingly return we
accept them.” It appears that in the case of this child for whom it is a
mitzvah to convert, we do not attempt to have him retract but on the
contrary, perhaps he should be [encouraged by being] told about the
pleasantness of the Torah of the Torah scholars.

All this applies to a baby who has no parents, to whose conversion
no objection is being made. However, a minor [prospective] convert
who comes to convert together with his mother but his [non Jewish]
father feeds him non-kosher food and takes him to his own house
of worship should not be converted, as is explained by the Mishneh
Halachos (9, 418), who writes that the reason that Rashi writes that a

2. See our lengthy discussion of this topic, earlier siman 207.

498 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein