Shabbos Nachamu

Can you please explain the meaning of Shabbat Nachamu? I heard in a class that there are three weeks of Haftara portions leading up to the day of Tisha B’av and then seven weeks of portions of comforting, starting with Nachamu. Why would there be so many more weeks of comforting, and how could we be comforted immediately after the destruction of our people? Could you please provide some explanation or meaning to this period; it would be appreciated!

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Jewish Divorce

I am divorced and interested in remarrying one day in the hopefully not-too-distant future. My ex-husband is not religious and not too interested in doing a Jewish divorce, since in his eyes the secular divorce we had is sufficient. If I told him it’s very important to me, he would probably do it. I’d rather not go there at all if I don’t have to. In this kind of situation is it enough to go to a rabbi to get his blessing to get married or is it necessary to do what it takes to get a Jewish divorce?

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Diversity and Other Religions

Is it fair and right for God to let millions of innocent children get indoctrinated into false religions like Islam? Some of those children then believe they should become suicide bombers in the name of Allah. Why doesn’t God help prevent such tragedies by revealing himself more clearly to such people? I’m not asking the Jewish God to force people to believe in Him as their Father, just to give them clear evidence of it, similar to a DNA paternity test. One way he could do this, for example, is to line up all the stars to display the Shield of David, along with the 10 commandments for all to see.
Also, He could communicate with people directly through regular mail, voicemail or even email, if he cared to. But it looks like this only happens in the movies like “Bruce Almighty”. Since most people are of different religions, it seems as if God does not care to develop a personal relationship with most of the planet! Is that right?
Here’s another way of framing the same question: In monotheistic religions, God is regarded as the ultimate father figure. But what kind of father lets some of his children go their whole lives without ever learning His true name? Whether it’s Yah-weh, Christ, Allah or something else, God seems conspicuously silent.

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Disasters: Jewish Response, Pt. 2

Last week you wrote that events like the tsunami should be a cause for introspection and self-improvement. But I’m having a lot of trouble philosophically with all the devastation caused, which just seems so random. How could a compassionate God allow this to happen?

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Disasters: Jewish Response

My friends and I have really felt devastated by the images we have seen of the tsunami and knowing about all the people who died there. We feel so helpless and want to do something. Is there a Jewish response to all this?

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Dinosaurs

I have been following your column over the past couple of weeks with interest because I am curious about Judaism’s views on the beginnings of life.
I would like clarification about something you said in your May 11 column. Regarding the age of the universe, when describing the mainstream interpretation of the six days of creation, you mention that “God created the world with its oil fields, and the decayed life needed to bring them about.”
With regard to this statement, I bring up an incident that happened to my son five years ago. In his day school here in Dallas, a question arose about how to reconcile the date on the Jewish calendar with the age of dinosaurs. His secular studies teacher was unable to answer the question, and called in the head rabbi (no longer affiliated with his school) to help. The rabbi’s answer was that dinosaurs never existed. He went on to explain that Hashem simply planted dinosaur bones in the earth to test our faith.
So my question to you is, according to the Jewish point of view you are presenting, did dinosaurs exist or not?

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Daf HaYomi, Mishna and Talmud

I have a cousin in New York whom I call on occasion, and at times when I call to speak to him his wife tells me he’s “out doing the Doff”. I’m a little embarrassed to ask her what that means, so could you possibly shed some light on this for me? Much appreciated.

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