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Our daughter with whom we have a strained relationship has entirely abandoned Judaism, identifies herself as a non-religious atheist rather than a Jew, and lives in sin with a non-Jewish man. She is due to give birth to a baby boy next month. She adamantly refuses to have him circumcised. At the same time, she is depending on me to give her free babysitting when she and her boyfriend work during the day. Do you think we should go behind her back and hire a mohel to circumcise our grandson? Yes, it is illegal and is a betrayal of trust, but she would never press charges against us because she is too dependent on us for money and childcare. My hunch is that she would be angry at first, but then get over it.

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Shalom rabbi! All right? Abraham´s slaves when they were circumcised, did they become Jews (the Abraham´s slaves), or not? Bereshit 17: 9 Lehitraot Alan Freire

Question
I live together with my sister in the house where we grew up. Since our father died, it’s now just us and no one else. When we were sitting shiva for our father, a local rabbi we don’t know paid us a visit and at first seemed helpful. He soon discovered our living arrangements. He approached us as the end of shloshim neared and told us it’s forbidden for us to live together on a permanent basis. Now he is pressuring us to find separate places to live. We can’t afford to live separately and we don’t want to either. We just went through many years of caring for our elderly parents and we do not want to further change what’s familiar to us. We want to ignore him and be ourselves, but he keeps calling us and acts like it’s his business. We are not incestuous. We are just a brother and sister who never married and we take care of each other. We have other siblings who did marry and have children and they are religious people and they don’t oppose us living together. Only this one rabbi we don’t even know is bothering us.

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hello rabbi, I am converting in yeshiva. However, I have a girlfriend who also wants to convert. Am I doing the right thing? after all, I have almost passed, and she is just beginning her journey into Jewry.

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Shalom Rabbi, I am in the final stages of planning to become a Gher and in doing so resolving some outstanding Halachic questions concerning my final decision to go ahead with --exclusively of course-- an Orthodox conversion. I was born to an intermarriage whereby my mother was not Jewish at the time of my birth. My father has passed away and i no longer have anything to do with his family and haven't for many years. My question concerns the decision I must make --whether or not to keep my current last name due to the mitzvah of honoring one's parents. (my name which is also my father's last name is associated with his avera, having committed the sin of intermarriage with my non-Jewish mother). Now, my instincts tell me to go ahead with legally changing my last name just prior (or immediately after) completion of the mikvah / Gher-ceremony. This is my current plan. However i wanted to get a confirmation from you as to whether this is a) Halachically required B) strongly recommended or C) as a matter of Jewish Law it makes no difference. Common sense tells me --as I understand Hashem-- G-d would NOT want me to carry the last name that is so directly associated with the avera of intermarriage. In fact, and to be sure, my thought is to blot this name (which is "Gilman") completely out from me and my life. In summary, given that the family name is clearly so very closely associated with marriage and family life, and given the very important Mitzvah to honor one's parents [and I quote] "honor your father and mother that thy days may be long" it is clear to me that changing my name will certainly not be honoring my father. However, the question becomes whether or not this mitzvah applies to a situation where the father has transgressed the Torah in such a terrible way. (not only marrying a non-Jewish mother but also having non-Jewish offspring). Does the "Honor Parents" mitzvah apply to: a family name change --when such a change will occur in the process of becoming a gher--a completely new relationship with Hashem, with a "renewed" Jewish nishama (who after all, was in fact at Mt. Sinai and participated with Israel in agreeing to completely accept the covenant with G-d in acceptance of the 613 Mitzvot. Your kind answer is very much appreciated. Toda Arba and Shalom. Sincerely, Colin Gilman

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Earlier today, I saw one of my neighbors, an orthodox Jew who I have seen around but don’t know his name, repeatedly beating one of his sons as punishment for something that is unclear what. I filmed part of the beating from my apartment window, but the film is not clear enough to ascertain what was going on. What this father was doing looked so bad, I felt like calling 911. But I was uncertain if I should call the civil authorities on my fellow Jew. I also didn’t know if the police would consider this a crime or not because parents do have the legal right to spank their children. Regardless, I thought this treatment of his son went too far for what would be reasonable punishment. I have 4 children of my own and I would never do that to any of them, no matter how badly they behaved. I don’t believe what my neighbor was doing would fix any behavioral issues. I also wasn’t sure if reporting this is considered Lashon Hara.