From: Sheina Dear Rabbi, Unfortunately, my sister is getting divorced and there’s some question regarding the spelling of her name on the get. The rabbis involved require that it be written in Hebrew with a particular spelling that is different than the way we’ve always spelled her name. She feels uncomfortable with this and I[…]
From: David Dear Rabbi, We are told that Moses was the greatest of prophets. Yet we find that he remained in this world and died a natural death which is not the case with Eliyahu who was conveyed into the spiritual realm in a chariot of fire because of the great spiritual heights he attained.[…]
From: Ted Dear Rabbi, I am Afro-American and Christian. It is my opinion that the Jewish religion is not racist. But I had a conversation with a Jewish friend of mine who pointed out that Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses for marrying an African woman. Is this so? And what is the Torah perspective on[…]
From: Menachem Dear Rabbi, There is a young man who has been coming to our shul recently who is in the process of becoming a baal teshuva. I have become a bit of a mentor for him and he asks me a lot of questions. My question to you is this: Our shul is regular[…]
From: Saul Dear Rabbi, Do animals talk? Has G‑d gifted the power of speech to animals? We read stories such as Bilam’s talking donkey and about King Solomon knowing the language of the animals. We also read in Perek Shira that they sing praises to G‑d, is this to be taken literally? Dear Saul, Animals do[…]
From: Harrison Dear Rabbi, My wife and I are not observant but we are traditional Jewish. We have been married several years and never intended to have children. We both consider it too much of a burden. Lately we have encountered a lot of criticism for this from a Jewish point of view. We’ve agreed[…]
From: Ian Dear Rabbi, It seems to me that in addition to literature in the form of instructive stories, there is a fair representation of music and other artistic forms mentioned in the Torah, and applied in the service of G‑d in the Temple, and on other occasions. But it strikes me that theater doesn’t[…]
From: Phillip Dear Rabbi, The wife of one of my neighbors recently passed away and he is currently sitting shiva. I know it is a mitzva to console a mourner, aside from being a kind thing to do. But I am very uncomfortable in those types of situations and would rather not do it. Since[…]