Definitions

Is it a greater mitzvah to help a Jew vs. a Gentile?

I have started the college application process and this is the first time in my life where I feel like I need to be totally accurate entering my demographics. I am 100% Ashkenazi Jewish according to a DNA test but my family emigrated from Russia in the early 2000's and I look completely European. Should I put White or Middle Eastern on the application?

Are there different levels of Gan Eden?

For a groom, the word Chatan is used both for marriage and for Simchat Torah. The word for bride (marriage) in Hebrew is כַּלָּה Kallah However, the bride of the Torah is Kallat Torah. What is the Hebrew word for Kallat? Why is the word different for a female?

First: What's the definition of the term Mikdash? I noticed that the Kehatim, where bearers of the 'Mikdash', "they shall bear", where it is in fact the Ark of the Covenant that is referred to as the 'Mikdash'. Second: Whats the definition of the term Mishkan?The "Mishkan" in its more specific sense refers to the bottom layer of curtains: "YOU SHALL MAKE THE MISHKAN OF TEN CURTAINS, fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet, [with] artistic keruvim shall you fashion them (Shemot 26:1)". In contrast, when it comes to the construction of the boards, we are told: "You shall fashion the boards FOR THE MISHKAN... (Shemot 26:18)". The boards are FOR the Mishkan, while the curtains themselves are the Mishkan. And at last: Whats the definition of the term Ohel(when referring to the Sanctuary). "He abandoned the Mishkan of Shilo, the tent (ohel) where He dwelled among people" (Tehillim 78:60). In this verse and in Sefer Vayikra, "ohel" is the general name for the whole building. More specifically, "ohel" refers to the goat skins that were spread over the curtains of the Mishkan: "You shall fashion curtains out of goatskins as a covering (ohel) over the Mishkan; you shall make eleven curtains" (26:7). I noticed that these terms are somewhat used interchangeably to refer to what we would call 'The Sanctuary' while sometimes they are used to refer to specific parts of the same 'Sanctuary'. So what exactly is what? And is there a common denomitor between the contrasts given for each case while using the same terminology?

In some places (like Mishlei 3:3 and 7:3) our hearts are compared to luchot, tablets, on which one should enscribe the words of HaShem. In another places our hearts should be circumcised (Devarim 10:16) which seems to be about cutting of our evil affections (Yirmiyahu 4:4) (see also Devarim 30:6), to remove wickedness. Yet again in other verses (like Ezekiel 11:19, 36:27) it says the heart of stone will be replaced by the heart of flesh: Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said: "G-d’s laws are called hukkim because they are engraved (hakukim) as a safeguard against the Yetzer Hara (the evil inclination)." Rabbi Levi elaborated: "This can be compared to an outpost threatened by brigands. What did the king do? He sent a guard to protect it. So, too, the Holy One Blessed be He said: The Torah is a rock and the Evil Inclination is a rock. The Torah (a harder rock) will defend against the Evil Inclination (a less hard rock) – ‘’I will remove the heart of stone from your body.” All of these seem to talk about our hearts, the words of Torah which should be on them, and the evil inclination which should be removed from them. So what I would like to know is: What's the difference, and what is the common denomitor, between a heart that needs to be engraved/written on, a heart that needs to be circumcised and a heart that needs to be transformed into a heart of flesh. And what should one learn from this?