Question
I am invited to a wedding of a Cohen and a divorced woman who are marrying in violation of Torah law. Is it permitted to go?

Question
My friend and I have tickets to a concert that we purchased several months ago. Unfortunately, my friend lost one of her parents two weeks ago. She is therefore not permitted to go to this concert. Except she is refusing to observe this halacha that she knows full well exists and insists on not observing. If she independently got herself there, I couldn’t stop her. But she depends on me for transportation to the theater because she doesn’t drive in the dark. She wants me to provide her transportation to this concert. If I refuse to take her, she will probably have no other way to get there. What this boils down to is if I cave to her demands and take her to the concert, which I promised her I would do before her parent’s death, I will be sinning by helping her sin. To avoid committing the sin of aiding another’s sin, I would have to stand up to her and be an enforcer of Halacha, which I simply do not have the spine to do. She is a dear friend. I feel I cannot let her down by controlling her behavior and her Torah observance in the worst time of her life. I feel torn.

Question
Help! I just got married two weeks ago and started covering my hair. I find after this short time that I cannot stand covering my hair. It is so uncomfortable, I feel like dying. I have tried all kinds of hair coverings, from sheitls to scarves to different types of hats, and they all bother me and I feel I can never get used to it. I cannot take the misery this is causing me. I just married the greatest man in the world, but I feel like a prisoner being forced to wear a hair covering. My husband says he wouldn’t mind if I don’t cover my hair, and he would rather I be comfortable than to comply with this requirement. But I find myself in a community that would be very judgmental if I didn’t. I’m afraid that members of our community would snub me if I didn’t follow this. There is even a synagogue around here that has a sign on the door that says married women must have their hair covered to enter the building. What am I to do?

Question
I know women are exempt from time-bound commandments in part because of the need to provide childcare. But what about a man who is the primary caregiver for his children? My situation is that I am a stay-at-home dad and I probably will be for many years to come. My wife has a very demanding job where she is away from home for as many as 14 hours a day. After having our first baby recently, she had some maternity leave and this freed me up some time to do things including davening. Now she is back at work and except on weekends, I find davening at the proper time practically impossible. Childcare is much more of a responsibility than I ever imagined. It’s much harder work than the full time job I had before our daughter was born. Even before we conceived, my wife wanted me to quit my job to be a stay-at-home dad as soon as we had children. She made it clear to me that she prefers work to childcare, and I love children, so it is a good arrangement. I gave my notice two months before the baby was born and stopped working six weeks before her birth. I’m glad I did because I was so busy preparing for fatherhood even before she was born. Now that I am my daughter’s primary caregiver, I literally have no free time except maybe a little on weekends. This is just the beginning. We want to have more children in the future. This puts me in the position of being primary caregiver of the children for decades to come. I will always be the one who feeds them, changes their diapers, does the laundry and housework, and takes them where they need to go. Which means I can’t see myself being able to daven at the proper time as hard as I might try. I do very much love what I am doing, but I am feeling guilty about not davening.

Question
In the 1960s, my grandfather who apparently was a kohen fell in love with a convert to Judaism. He knew he was not supposed to marry her, but they were madly in love, and he married her under the auspices of a Conservative rabbi, who was open to such a marriage. He remained orthodox otherwise, and he and his wife moved to a new community and kept this secret, not admitting the truth. His surname was not one associated with kohanim and he didn’t tell anyone he was a kohen. He went on to have five children and many grandchildren, myself included, and many great grandchildren, with more likely in the future. Earlier this year, my grandfather died at a ripe old age. My uncle went through some of his belongings and discovered the truth. I always knew my grandmother was a convert, but I didn’t know until recently that my grandfather was a kohen who violated Jewish law. What impact does this have on me and my family?

Question
Dear Rabbi, I am a 62 year-old man who went through a civil divorce after 22 years of marriage. I am planning to remarry this April 2023 to a woman who was widowed. My ex-wife has no plans to remarry. as a man, is it required for me to have a GET? My ex-wife is not observant and does not request one from me. Am I allowed to proceed to my new marriage without one?

Question
I know according to the Torah, we are supposed to obey our parents. But does that mean that if they do not want to have a relationship with us, we are required to respect that wish and not ever contact them? I am adopted. My adoptive parents gave me a very nice upbringing. But they have both died. I did a DNA test earlier this year. My biological mother was not on it, but I found a biological cousin. My cousin wasn’t very welcoming but told me who my biological mother is and gave me her phone number but warned me that she would not warm up to me. I called my biological mother. As my cousin told me to expect, my biological mother was rude to me. She spoke for under two minutes in which she admitted she had me and gave me up and said that’s how she wanted it to be. She acted like I violated her by calling her as a stranger. And before slamming the phone, she told me never to call her again.