Question
How can God have control over the world if we have choice? I can choose to kill myself and God won’t make a miracle to stop it, therefore I have control. And He doesn’t. How is that?

Question
I grew up in a Jewish family, was raised going to shul, and had a bat mitzvah. I've been active at my university's Hillel, and my Jewish identity is really important to me. I'm almost 22 years old, and I just found out that my grandmother on my mother's side isn't Jewish (although her husband, my grandfather, was). My mother and her family are from the Soviet Union, and she was raised with all of the stigma and struggle associated with being Jewish (as well as with Jewish cultural practices). My mom has always identified as Jewish, so I never thought to ask about our family history. I'm not quite sure what to do -- I know that this means that I'm not Jewish, but my identity and how people view me hasn't changed. I know that Jewishness is matrilineal, so I would need to convert in order for my children to be considered Jewish, but what would the conversion process look like for me? Would it be different than the standard process in any way?

Question
ntiyshah - Nun Tet Yod Shin Hei - tendrils plant battlements. This word has woven within it Shin Tet Nun - satan. Could Satan , super human adversary, accuser, archenemy of good, be likened to a vine, tendril, tree? What is the hidden connection between ntiyshah - Nun Tet Yod Shin Hei, and Shin Tet Nun - satan? 1Samuel 25:25: For as his name is, so is he.

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Dear Rabbi, I recently received a local award and was invited to speak at a ceremony honoring me. I am wondering if the concept of honor is something positive in Jewish values or not. Thank you for your guidance.

Question
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?

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Judaism teaches that the greater the person, the greater yetzer hara. However I think that my yetzer hara is small. Do I have to pray to HaShem to make my evil inclination big to be a great Tzaddik? Are there any Jewish sages who became great, even though they had a small yetzer hara?

Question
Dear Rabbi, I think that Machievelli believed that "The end justifies the means." What does the Torah teach and offer as a possible counter-argument? Thank you!