144 Alan Sokobin

form State Laws prepared a Uniform Adoption Act.” It has been twice amended. The 1971 amendment contains language, which offers the potential for“open” adoption. Nonetheless, only the five states of Alaska , Arkansas , Montana , North Dakota and Ohio have adopted the act.'”! In largest measure, therefore, the adoptive process utilized for the vast majority of Americans who are involved in adopting or being adopted is“closed adoption.” The adoption statutes in force today are, in largest measure, vari­ants of the 1851 Massachusetts law. The first requirement is the consent of the parents or there must be a pressing need for the courts to effectuate the adoption procedure without that con­sent.'”? Adoption, in a traditional“closed adoption” transfers the parental rights of the biological parents to the adoptive par­

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ents.!® Traditional adoptions are not revocable.” Most impor­

tantly, for the purposes of this paper, traditional adoptions in most states involve statutorily imposed anonymity of the parties, [t truly is a“tangle of state law.

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secrecy, and sealed records. Adoption as a legal concept and process does not exist in

earliest Jewish law.” Moreover, it“is not known as a legal insti­tution in Jewish law.”1% The reality with regard to an individual or a couple accepting responsibility for the care, growth and future of a child, however, is not the same as the bald statement of Jewish law. While halakhah effectively limits the personal sta­tus of a child to that of the natural parents, there is an effective pragmatic mechanism to achieve the same results as in adop­tion. Halakhah permits the appointment of a guardian, an apotro­pos’?(a guardian in all matters)."”

A vital concern of traditional Jewish law is the personal bio­logical status of each individual." Of particular and direct con­cern is the status of the kohen, the descendant of the ancient priestly caste for whom certain privileges, prerogatives and re­strictions apply."? The kohen is given primacy in the order of those called to read from the Torah on all occasions that the reading takes place."® He also invokes the Priestly Blessing in the Syna­ gogue ' as well as accepts the redemptive money at the ceremony which celebrates the birth of a first-born male.” Of greater impor­tance for the theme of this chapter are the limitations and pro­scriptions placed upon a kohen. The rules prohibiting contact with the dead with the exception of his closest of kin are still in effect. Because of this prohibition there are some that would limit the study of medicine for a kohen."'” Most importantly for the pur­