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!
Chanukah: Continuing the Celebration
Two questions:
how do we preserve the message of Chanukah throughout the year?
Secondly, I was studying last week’s Torah portion, and was bothered by a question. When relating the story of Joseph and his brothers, the Torah says that they threw him into a pit, “…the pit was empty, no water was in it”. I have always been taught that the Torah doesn’t use extra words; if the pit was empty, obviously there’s no water in it. Isn’t this statement redundant?