Question
dear rabbi well i am at my wits end with life i have no direction or skills i work 12 hr days at a dead end job at a pizza shop as its cook im 39 yrs old have been divorced and have two children from to seperate women one of them i married and my first sons mother i did not my eldest is 15 my youngst 11 i was raised a roman catholic but i have not been to church for years im coming to just ask for some kind of idea were i can get some direction i know it may be a little funny for a non jew to come to a site but i feel a certian kinship with the faith you see i was raised in brooklyn and been around jewss my whole life my sister is married to one ive also worked for tri art pictures on flatbush ave as a child im very confused the stress is unberebale i want to bo a good man afamliy man but it seems im always in trouble i have no controll and also no ambition sleepless nights are normal for me i wish i knew what my lifes calling was i feel like a complete putz help me

Question
My daughter Michelle will be a Bat Mitzvah in 2 months; the company which makes the kippot says they need an authorized translation of her Hebrew name, which is Masha Layka in English letters. Can you provide the Hebrew letters for this? Many thanks. Howard Margulis

Question
Is there anything improper with a practicing Jew also practicing Buddhist meditation and studying bBddhist philosophy as part of the meditiation practice? ? I am referring specifically to the Thai stayle or Thereveda Buddhism which is devoid of any G-d and does not claim to be a religion. (No Dalai Lama) We are assuming that such medititation and study does not prevent or impair the practice of Judaism in any way and does not diminish identification or committment in any way.