Misc.

Hey rabbis, I know somebody who was born non Jewish but converted under the auspices of a conservative rabbi and thinks he’s Jewish. For context He calls himself “non binary” (as in not a man or woman for gender) and is dating a man. He says that he’s Jewish because most Jews in America are not orthodox. How should I explain to him and other reform/conservative people why orthodoxy is a better form of Judaism to conservative/reform

There is an online video game I have enjoyed playing over the past few years where participants build a fictional world. I am so good at it, I have become the top champion. Every week, they have a contest in which all those from the online community who play this game compete against each other. The winner doesn’t get any real life money, but gets a large sum of bonus pretend money they can use in the game. For several months now, I have won this contest every week, beating thousands of other participants from around the world. In being so dominant, I have angered other participants. I know because I read the chat the game has and they are all upset they never win because of me, who they know only by my screen name. Is it a problem in Jewish law that I am depriving others of fictional prize money by playing so well that I am not sharing with others a chance to win sometimes?

Although I know the majority of Hebrew names are biblical/of Jewish origin, I'd like know if you take a non-Hebrew name and translate, can it be used as one? Provided the name is compatible with being translated, of course.

Hello, thank you for choosing to chat with me. :) You can call me Eren (pseudonym). I'll get right to the point. Although I was raised Protestant Christian, lately, I've been considering following Noahidism and eventually converting to Judaism. But of course, I've been afraid of "but what if Christians are right about nonbelief in Jesus meaning eternal death in Hell?!?". Even though I don't really believe that, I still worry, thinking to myself "but do I really want to risk the Christians being right?". And it really does suck, I feel threatened and sort of bullied into Christianity. I know that if the threat of Hell wasn't present, I'd confidently convert to Judaism without fear, because I feel drawn to it and I believe in it so much. But anyways, I prayed to G-d for guidance earlier today and asked Him to send me a sign, to tell me if I'm going in the right or wrong direction in my faith. And I think He may have sent me one. I drove home from vacation today and saw many billboards and trucks saying "JESUS" in huge letters. But really, that location seems to just be very religious and Christian anyways, so I don't know if that's very convincing to me as a sign. The most striking thing I saw was in the sky tonight. I saw the moon surrounded by rainbow-ish light like I have never seen before. And a cloud came, which looked to be in the shape of a hand, and moved to "grab" the moon perfectly in its fingers. Before the wrist of the "hand" was a huge wall of clouds, which tried to cover the moon after the "hand" had "grabbed" it. Although I'm not sure if the last bit about the wall of cloud is part of the sign/relevant. I was debating meanings/symbolism. For example, "the moon could be G-d, and the surrounding rainbow could be the Gentiles, the descendants of Noah. And then the hand could be G-d's gentle touch, meaning that only Gentiles will go to Heaven? But that would be strange, the Jews are G-d's chosen people, why wouldn't His gentle touch be touching them? Or maybe He's telling me to become a Noahide with the rainbow... not sure about the rest, but I feel like the moon would symbolize G-d somehow". So, Rabbi, do you have any ideas on what this sign could mean? Or is it even a sign from G-d at all? And what do you suggest on my current Judaism vs Christianity predicament? Thank you so much for devoting your time to helping me. :)

Dear Rabbi Can angels appear in the shape of animals, such as a dog or cat or goat? Regards Gary