Ta'anit 29 Reaching for G-d but Never Knowing G-d

Some highlights and thoughts from today's daf:

• Did Manasseh put an idol in the Temple on the 17th of Tammuz?  One idol had a cryptic message written on it: "You want to destroy the Temple: I will help your hand".
• The rabbis attempt to find the dates for different calamities described in the Torah
• The rabbis try to prove the date that the first Temple was destroyed
• A story is told of Rabban Gamliel.  An officer was looking for the man "with the nose" - that was determined to be Gamliel, who stuck out from the rest like a nose from a face.  The officer privately asked Gamliel for a promise of the World-to-Come if he spared Gamliel's life.  Gamliel swore to this.  The officer then killed himself resulting in the decree for Gamliel's life to be rescinded.  Gamliel then heard an Eternal voice telling him that the officer was in the World-to-Come
• When the first Temple was burning, many scholars threw themselves into the flames.
• Just as the month of Av brings bad fortune to Jews, the month of Adar brings good fortune
• Some actions are allowed before the 9th of Av and some are not.  Some actions are permitted in preparation for Shabbat and some are not.  In particular, the rabbis discuss laundering.  They also discuss specific days of the week regarding laundering - and regarding reading from the Torah.

There is a great amount of effort and energy put into figuring out how the Torah is logical and consistent.  At the same time, we are encouraged to remember that we cannot understand the Torah or the will of G-d.  That tension between what we want to know and what we cannot know is part of the reason that Judaism has stayed alive for millenia.  We are pushed to study and learn and make connections and come closer to understanding G-d.  Simultaneously we live with the reality that we cannot explain much of what we experience in this world.  A worthy struggle.