Question
My female cousine who is gay and Jewish is in the process of removing her female body parts and get a male body part According to Jewish law after “remodeling” is she a man or a female and if a man can she/ he be called to the Torah in a Satie shul  

Question
My wife and I have little choice but to have a childhood friend of hers stay with us for the next several months. She is coming to town to receive life saving medical treatment and needs to stay somewhere. There are no other options for her, it’s a long story why. The problem is that I work at home and I am normally home by myself all day. My wife works outside the home and is away most of the day. This means I would be home with no one but this woman all day. My wife is the one who arranged this and she is pressuring me to overlook yichud laws because she feels this is a great mitzvah we are doing. What is the proper way to handle this?

Question
I have a dilemma. I'm worried that I will be kidnapped and given plastic surgery to look like the current North Korean dictator. I'm worried that it is written down somewhere that where the dictator is, that that is where executions will take place. I'm worried about going to hell for this, for indirectly killing people. What can I do in this situation? I've debated killing myself in order to save people, but I'm scared to do this.

Question
Rabbi, I am a 70-year-old fit Jewish divorced woman who has had two heart attacks within a year. I light candles, partake in some study and observe all holidays. I have one son, single, 27, a mature physics PhD student who is now taking a more active role in his mother's life, a good relationship. I am no longer a candidate for stents and bypass and was told that I have 3 years to live. Rabbi, what questions do I ask myself to make each day count more?

Question
A friend who is cleaning out her deceased parents’ home has found a number of Hebrew religious texts. The books are in very bad condition and she would like to know how to dispose of them in a respectful manner. We would also like to know the background reason for the disposal method. Thank you for your help with this matter.

Question
I have two questions: 1) What is the most comprehensive source for the rules regarding the Shmita, and also the Sabbath and Kashrus? 2) I understand that during the Shmita, assuming one lives in Israel, one is not to consume produce planted during that year. Therefore one needs to buy produce from a rabbinically supervised source. So my question is: Are there such sources only in Israel? Or are there supervised sources of produce in America?

Question
A friend who is cleaning out her deceased parents home has found a number of Hebrew religious texts. Neither she or her parents are Jewish. The books are in very bad condition and she would like to know how to dispose of them in a respectful manner. We would also like to know the background reason for the disposal method. Thank you for your help with this matter.

Question
I am a young man who recently learned a new hobby from my aunt: crochet. There is a social club in my town where people meet weekly and crochet together. With my aunt’s encouragement, I came for the first time last week and there were around 20 women and I was the only man. All the women were very welcoming to me and want me to come back. One of them is a middle aged orthodox woman who claims there is no problem in Jewish law with me being there. But she is not a rabbi. I am just curious, what is your opinion as a rabbi about a man being in a social club that is otherwise all female?

Question
At birth I was given a middle name that is not Jewish not by my parents. I never had a Brit but my mother and I have chosen the name David as my Jewish name. I was called up at my Bar Mitzvah to read the Torah with the name David. My question is, is this enough, should I officially have a naming ceremony. I no longer also wish to use the middle name that was given to me at birth not by my parents. And wish to replace it with David.