Question
I have a theoretical question: Consider there are non-human persons that exist, created outside this world of earth, but never revealed to us, which possess intelligent thought. Would it be possible for one of them to convert to Judaism (Giur, be considered a part of the Jewish faith by all)? Consider that they can distinguish good from evil. In the same vain of questions - consider they have food, very different to our, and they brought some to us. How could we distinguish which is Kosher (animal, plant, fish or none) and which is not?

Question
Out of necessity for professional reasons, I moved to an area where there is only one shul within a reasonable walk. It considers itself Orthodox. But there are two concerns I have about this shul. One is that most members are not orthodox and they drive to shul on Shabbos. That in itself is nothing new to me. The difference here is this minyan exists because of people breaking Shabbos. There are far fewer than ten men who come in a Shomer Shabbos manner. The other concern I have is there is someone who was born female and underwent a series of medical procedures to become male. He is treated as a man, sits in the men's section, leads service, gets aliyos, and reads Torah. And when there are just ten men including him, he gets counted in a minyan. He also shakes hands with all the men, including me, which I have not resisted because I don’t want to be rude. He is actually very nice and personable. Wondering about this, I quietly asked the rabbi about him, and rather than stating any halacha pertaining to sex changes, he simply told me “he is good at what he does.” As a rabbi, what is your perspective on this situation?

Question
The Artscroll Siddur says it is forbidden to recite any Torah passages prior to reciting Birkat HaTorah in the morning. Suppose for some reason you cannot daven the full Shacharit by the latest time for reciting Shema. You want to recite just the Shema before that deadline and then the other prayers later. Since the Shema is a series of Torah passages, are you also required to recite Birkat HaTorah before you recite Shema?

Question
According to Baal Shem Tov, the Rappaport family lineage is truly traced back to the priestly class, Kohanem, all the way to Ezra and eventually to the first Temple. Is there any truth to this??????

Question
If, while reciting Atah Chonantanu after Shabbat, one mistakenly skips or mispronounces one or more words in the paragraph, does one still fulfill their requirement to perform activities not permitted on Shabbat? Or are Shabbat-restricted activities still prohibited?