Non-Shomer Shabbos Minyan
Question
Out of necessity for professional reasons, I moved to an area where there is only one shul within a reasonable walk. It considers itself Orthodox. But there are two concerns I have about this shul.
One is that most members are not orthodox and they drive to shul on Shabbos. That in itself is nothing new to me. The difference here is this minyan exists because of people breaking Shabbos. There are far fewer than ten men who come in a Shomer Shabbos manner.
The other concern I have is there is someone who was born female and underwent a series of medical procedures to become male. He is treated as a man, sits in the men’s section, leads service, gets aliyos, and reads Torah. And when there are just ten men including him, he gets counted in a minyan. He also shakes hands with all the men, including me, which I have not resisted because I don’t want to be rude. He is actually very nice and personable.
Wondering about this, I quietly asked the rabbi about him, and rather than stating any halacha pertaining to sex changes, he simply told me “he is good at what he does.”
As a rabbi, what is your perspective on this situation?
Answers
It certainly sounds like a complicated Halachic situation! However, due to the fact that the Rabbi of the Shul has already been asked – and expressed his point of view – it is not really the place of Just Ask! to get involved.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team