Hello all!! - I'm Nicole, 24y/o and I have been engaged for almost two years now, FI and I have been together just over 6 years. We are planning our wedding for June 30, 2013. The reason it's so "far" out is that I am a law student (i graduate in 2014) and FI graduates a year from now.
In any event, I have a few questions, I was raised in a modern sephardic orthodox community in Venezuela (I am bat-mitzvah'd and went to Hebrew school until I moved to the U.S. at 13, parents are both Jewish, we are i would say semi-observant, we observe traditions but do not keep kosher or shomer shabbat) however, my FI was born of a Jewish mother and Catholic father, I believe they did not have a Jewish wedding. My FI did not have a brit-milah or bar-mitzvah because his mother was not observant at all.
From what I've seen online and told by my aunt, the rabbi that we want (sephardic orthodox) may require "paperwork" or conversion, bar-mitzvah, or something else because my FI could be considered illegitimate b/c of the interfaith marriage between his parents. I was under the understanding that Judaism was matrilineal and he would be Jewish because his mother is.
Does anyone know what a rabbi could require of us to marry us? We are open to being married by a chabad rabbi (they seem to be more open), or even a conservative synagogue if the rabbi we want is not willing to marry us. I (admittedly) did not think that they would ask for "papers" - I'm not even sure what that means. I apologize for the length, any help would be greatly appreciated!
