So, here's a question for any rabbis or religious scholars that's obviously of utmost importance:
Could a pokemon be a member of a minyan?
According to Yeshiva, a deaf or mute person can be a member of a minyan, so the fact that most pokemon can't speak is irrelevant. There are numerous pokemon that display human level intelligence (or higher) throughout the series. Alakazam has an IQ of 5000 and perfect recall, Slowking has an intelligence "comparable to that of internationally recognized scientists", Metagross is a smart as a supercomputer, so at least some pokemon should have the intelligence and understanding needed to comprehend and participate in Jewish traditions (and if we take Mystery Dungeon and Pokopia as canon, all pokemon have a human level of intelligence). We'll assume they're all at least level 13 and properly instructed.
As a follow up, if a pokemon could be a member of a minyan, we also have to consider that several species consist of more than one individual. The aforementioned Metagross is a total of four beldums fused together, so would it count as four people for the purpose of a minyan? Or just one?
This is clearly a very urgent and important question, but I don't feel qualified enough to discuss Pokemon halacha. Reblogging for greater coverage.
I think that they couldnt be part of a minyan simply because they are not jewish and also not human.
there would be the same question about, say, a robot being part of a minyan. Presumably, the robot could understand the significance of what was happening, but it still would be able to complete the ten
Neither robots nor Pokémon have souls, and, as such, cannot be considered part of a minyan
regarding Pokémon that are made up of more than one individual, if they *could* be counted in a minyan, I think that as with did/osdd systems, halachically they would be counted as one person
#we know they don’t have souls because they can be revived after dying#humans don’t work that way
But they don't die,the faint. Completely different, and humans can be revived after fainting as well.
Since you mentioned a robot, there is a question on whether a Golem can join a Minyan. In the end the answer is no, IIRC. I would say the same likely holds for Pokémon, especially considering that, like prev said, they're not Jewish.
but then the question becomes... can a pokemon convert to judaism
