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A few years before I was born, my mother had an adulterous affair and got pregnant. My father knew about it and was angry at first, but then he forgave my mother and remained married to her and raised my brother as his own child. My parents kept secret from us for many years that this happened and hid the fact that my older brother is not my full brother. Only after my brother and I grew up did we learn the truth. Presumably a child born from adultery is a mamzer, which would make my brother a mamzer. But I also understand that once a woman has been unfaithful to her husband, she is forbidden to him and they must divorce. Well, my parents did not divorce and have married to each other for almost forty years. My question is, since my mother was already forbidden to my father at the time of my conception, and he knew that but remained in his marriage to her, does that make me a mamzer?

Question
Particularly, is there varied beliefs of this question between Orthodox and Reformed Jews?

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hi. are there ways for jews to atone for their sins? it stresses me out that my mom cheated on my dad because adulterers aren't allowed in heaven and my mom is the one person I need to be with forever. I also shoplifted a few times when I was younger. thieves cant get into heaven so am I screwed either way? I am a young woman with plenty of life left to live but the fear of the unknown weighs a heavy burden on me

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Dear Rabbi, I am currently in a bit of a conundrum that I’ve been in for some time now. i consider myself a religious Jew. I pray 3 times a day, learn Gemara and tanach frequently, wear tefillin, etc. I was brought up less religious than I am now, and I grew in my Judaism because I believe it teaches the best morals, but above all, seems to understand human nature absolutely perfectly. I am also, however, a very scientific thinker, and I generally tend to believe where the evidence most strongly points towards. this lead me to question the flood story of Noah. Reading the Hebrew, it seems central to the story that the flood was global, and that everything died besides what was on the boat.   as a biochemistry major, I know scientifically cannot be the case for numerous reasons. Firstly, there is too much genetic evidence to the contrary, ie the last common ancestors of every living thing aren’t only 4000 years old. Additionally, if all species come from one location on mount ararat, we’d expect to find a much higher biodiversity proximal to this site, and then as you move further away, the diversity shrinks. This is not the case. There is also plenty of geological evidence that this global flood never occurred. I love Judaism, but I need a much more solid basis for belief if I am to commit to a life guided by its principles. I have read a few books addressing doubt (eg ani maamin by rabbi Joshua Berman) that say that there are opinions that the flood was local. Indeed, Rav Gedalia Nadel, a student of the Chazan Ish, interprets it in the same way. I also know that the ram am says that if science contradicts the Torah in any way, it’s because we’ve been interpreting the Torah the wrong way, not that we need to shut out the evidence and pretend like it doesn’t exist.   I am skeptical, however. This is because it seems like the only reason the “local flood” theory (which most probably did happen) is being more widely accepted is because the global flood has been disproven. I believe it would be beneficial for me to find out if there are any sources suggesting the local flood opinion is valid before the discovery that the global flood couldn’t have happened. I know that Josephus mentions somewhere (and I can’t quote where off the top of my head) that after the flood, people came down from the mountaintops when it was safe, suggesting the flood account is hyperbolic and didn’t really mean that everything died.   I also know that in the torah, giants, descendants of the nephilim were in the land of Canaan when the Jews went to spy out the land. This would have been impossible if all nephilim died out in the flood and there was nobody there to produce giants.   there is so much to be said about this topic, I could go on forever. I’ve done a lot of research because it’s very important to me to search for the truth. I guess what I’m asking, is if, reading the torah honestly, is there a legitimate way to interpret the flood account as local and not global? And are there any sources, pre-18th century that hold a similar view?   thank you for taking the time to read this long question!   best wishes,   jacob

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Our 24-year-old son is socially drawn to older women who have ‘motherly’ personalities rather than young men his age. His entire circle of friends is like that. His best friend is a divorced Jewish woman in her 50s who has two sons of her own around his age. He is not romantically involved with her and has no desire to be. Their friendship is purely platonic. He just considers her his best friend and they hang out together and talk on the phone a lot. This makes us uncomfortable, but we have no control over him because he is legally an adult. And his friend is older than both of us. He is planning on taking a long road trip with her this coming summer in which they camp out most nights in separate tents, occasionally stay in separate hotel rooms, and see the national parks and Disneyland. He thinks this behavior is kosher. We think otherwise. He ignores our instructions not to do this, and legally we have no recourse. What do you think as a rabbi?