Question
hello so im very confused about weather im jewish or not, so on my mothers side my grandmother swears to the upmost degree that were jewish and even her brother is a practicing jew, (sorry if that sounds offensive). she claims that we have been jewish as far as we go back, but her grandmother (my grandmothers grandmother) was adopted from germany in the 1800's and no records exist. she says that she was jewish from birth, my mother and her sister(my aunt) have hebrew names and my cousins (my aunts children) have hebrew names and have had there bar mitzvahs in israel. my mother says that her grandmother was a lutheran. im very confused and it feels very disingenuous to claim that im jewish with that much doubt.

Question
I know that the hour of the day you were born has significance to your mazel and type of person you are. I am having a hard time calculating what hour I was born. I was born in the summer. End of tammuz at 5:10 pm. Which hour is that?

Question
There is a middle aged woman in the community I can’t stand. I wish I could have nothing to do with her, but she always turns up at social gatherings where I am and bothers me. At least once a month it seems, she ends up at a Shabbos meal where I am invited. She knows many of the same people I do. How can I avoid her and get her out of my way without speaking lashan hara about her?

Question
Suppose a person claims they need money for a particular reason and you donate them money. Then you find out later they were deceptively lying and didn’t need the money. Have you still fulfilled the mitzvah of giving tzedaka?

Question
This question revolves around the Second Tithe and Tithe for the Poor summarized in Deut 14:22-29. For the sake of clarity, let's assume we live in the Land. In Deut 14:22-27, the Torah indicates that every year of the 7-year shemittah cycle, we should observe the Feasts (Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot) in the place G-d chooses i.e. Jerusalem if residing in the Land. Deut 14:28-29 is unclear on how one is to use their Festival (Second) Tithe and go to Jerusalem each year and how to distribute the Poor Tithe in Years 3 and 6. I've searched the Mishnah and other sources but could not find any real-world examples of how this was done and how we could use the principles for observing the Feasts and Tithing to the Poor in Years 3 and 6 today. To summarize the Question: During the Maaser Ani years, if the tithes were given to the poor, how did the pilgrims pay for their travel and eat when they went to Jerusalem? Or, is the Poor Tithe an additional tithe aka Third Tithe in Years 3 and 6? Any resources that would help explain how this was applied would be greatly appreciated as I am working on a Teaching on this subject.

Question
In the city of Baltimore where we live, there is a street called Cathedral Street. It is part of the fastest route to my weekly appointments at University of Maryland Medical Center according to Google Maps. But my husband says it is forbidden to drive on Cathedral Street because of its name. Instead, he takes another street called Saint Paul Street. This takes several minutes longer. He insists this is acceptable because Saint Paul was Jewish. None of this makes sense to me and he has no rabbi backing him up on this. Even the orthodox receptionist in the office where we go thinks this is all crazy.

Question
There is a custom that some people have when they travel to take along a dollar bill with them that someone gave them and donate it to tzedaka upon their return. When you do that, are you required to give the exact same dollar bill that someone gave you before your trip? Or can you give any dollar?

Question
I am currently taking a world religions class and have to interview people of different religions and then write a paper on it. No word count requirement so explain in as much or as little detail as you would like. The questions will be below. Thank you for your response!   What do you love about your faith? What is most often misunderstood about your faith? Do you think people of different faiths should marry? How has your faith changed over the years? How do you feel when people try to convert you away from your faith or when others criticize or attack your faith? Can you provide an email address or phone number? I have to have it for my assignment to verify that it is an actual person I interviewed.