Question
When I was a kid, my parents played for me lots of Jewish themed songs about mitzvahs and composed of words of prayers written for children. I heard them so often, I can remember every word of these songs very clearly. But I have no idea the names of the bands that made these songs. I have tried singing them to other people in our community, but no one seems to know what these songs are. I’ve concluded they must have been made by obscure bands that sold few records. Considering how old I am now, and that these musicians were adults in my early childhood, I can’t imagine any of them are still alive today, and if they are, they are extremely old. Would it be permitted for me to make money singing these same songs to others when I can’t track down or even identify the original artists?

Question
I understand what it means to be Jewish if you believe in Judaism, but can you have Jewish blood even if you don't believe in Judaism or the Jewish holy books? Is it possible to separate the race from the religion, or do they go hand in hand?

Question
Next week is a rally for Israel in Washington, DC. My parents are too old and debilitated to go themselves, but they are ordering me to go to it. I don’t want to go because it is at the same time as a monthly book club meeting I don’t want to miss. My parents think the meeting is stupid, but it means a lot to me. I feel there will be plenty of people at the rally, even without me. I am an adult, old enough to have grandchildren if I had ever married, and I feel I shouldn’t have to do this just because my parents say so. What do you as a rabbi think?

Question
I had a very close relationship with my maternal grandparents. My grandfather died ten and my grandmother six years ago. When my grandmother was dying, she had me make a promise to her that when I got married someday, if I had a son, I would name him after my grandfather, to which I agreed. Now, I have a dilemma. I just got engaged to someone with a different English name, but with the same Hebrew name as my grandfather. My fiancé doesn’t even call himself by his Hebrew name most of the time, but obviously I can’t give that name to a child. What should I do when the time comes?

Question
Dear Rabbi, With the current war that Israel is fighting, I hear a lot of talk about teshuva. What does it mean and who is it for? Thanks

Question
I became aware that I indirectly caused a major accident today without actually being involved. I was on the freeway when I realized I was missing my exit and I rapidly served into the exit lane. The car behind me served to avoid hitting me. In a chain reaction, several other cars collided, and it tied up traffic for over an hour. I later saw it on the news. There were no fatalities. Legally, I am not responsible because my vehicle did not collide with anyone else’s. And there is no way for the authorities to track me down. But this crash caused monetary to several others and thousands of other people to sit through traffic, having possibly harmful effects on their lives I wouldn’t even know. This is all because of my decision to voice-text behind the wheel, which is legal to do, which caused me to lose focus of the road and nearly overshoot my exit and make this erratic move. I do it all the time and never realized this danger. Do I have any obligation to come forward to anyone?

Question
My mother is non-jewish, and my father is jewish. I know this means religiously I'm not jewish, but I always felt connected to judiasm. We as a family celebrate hannukah, pesach, rosh hassanah, and do Kom yippur. However, I feel the need to be more observant. I am not able to official convert until later, so should I become more observant? Should I even try to keep kosher, because I know non-jews are not to do religious things? Am I a jew? Am I a goy? I'm not sure what to do. Thank you Rabbi