Multiplying Personal Property
I do not own a car and there is no public transit where I live. I am poor. I am not a Jew either but I worry that I may offend God. So, I wanted to ask to make sure.
I own one bicycle that is quite expensive by most standards (the cheap ones disintegrate as you put miles on them). But I need to work on it as it is pushing a decade old (mind you it is built with parts that were made to last which is basically the only reason for the cost of it). I wanted to start building another slightly less expensive bike that will be of good quality, but will have more normal, readily available parts on it (my current bike has a Rohloff, for example… and these hubs are fairly rare). This would give me a chance to build up some less expensive wheels and test them to see how well I can build wheels, and this is important because one of the main things I need to do for the current bike is rebuild the wheels. It would also give me a bike that would be easy to repair in a pinch. So I figured building the new bike would give me a chance to practice building less expensive wheels, and would also allow me to have a second bike readily available while I have the current bike taken apart for repair.
My question: Would building the second bike be considered “multiplying” and not relying on God?
Answers
No, it would not be considered as disregarding God. In Judaism there is a concept of a person needing to be involved in creating something new – and then God will become a partner with them in their endeavor. If so, your building a new bicycle is a part of your involvement, and, hopefully, God will become your partner.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team