“I know Shabbos is hard for both of you. But I’m in shanah rishonah. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be married for just two months and have your mother show up at your door in tight pants?”
“If the world is only 5777 years old how come scientists find fossils that are hundreds of thousands of years old?”
The silence after I ask what I think is a reasonable question in Navi is a heartbeat too long. Miss Litwin recovers her composure soon enough. “I doubt this is a question that bothers most of the class Leah,” she says “so why don’t we talk after class?” Miss Litwin goes right back to the Metzudos she was dissecting.
After class I drag myself to Miss Litwin’s desk. She motions for me to sit down. “It’s interesting that your question focused on age of the universe,” she says. “I would have thought your philosophical grappling would be about tzaddik v’rah lo. Or maybe a question about how a benevolent G-d could allow the Holocaust to happen which is an outgrowth of the same question. Something that would get to the core of fairness and justice.” How dare she make all these assumptions?
“Nope,” I say forcing my voice to sound breezy. “Just fossils bother me. I mean aren’t there remains dated at nearly 200,000 years old?”
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