Torah

As a modern Orthodox Jewish man, I cannot find a rabbi who has chosen to reply to my question of the following Mishna. In Berakhot 28a the Gemara relates: On that day several benches were added to the study hall to accommodate the numerous students. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Abba Yosef ben Dostai and the Rabbis disputed in this matter. One said: Four hundred benches were added to the study hall. And one said: Seven hundred benches were added to the study hall. When he saw the tremendous growth in the number of students, Rabban Gamliel was disheartened. He said: Perhaps, Heaven forbid, I prevented Israel from engaging in Torah study. They showed him in his dream white jugs filled with ashes, alluding to the fact that the additional students were worthless idlers. The Gemara comments: That is not the case, but that dream was shown to him to ease his mind so that he would not feel bad.   B"H Robert Mandel  

In Zechariah 7:5 the people fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month for seventy years. Is there a reason these specific months were chosen to fast?

2 Samuel 6:2 says, "Whose name is called by the name of God of hosts, that dwells between the cherubim." 2 Kings 19:15 says, "And Chizkiyah prayed before God, and said: Hashem, Lord of Yisrael, who dwells [between] the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth." Psalms 80:1 says, "Give ear, O Shepherd of Yisrael, that leads Yosef like a flock; You who dwells between the cherubim, shine forth." Psalm 99:1 says, "God reigns; let the people tremble. He sits between the cherubim. Let the earth be moved." Ezekiel 10:7 says, "And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the 'fire' that was between the cherubim, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen." Question: In all the above passages, it says that God dwells between the cherubim. However, is the presence of God fire, as it implies in Ezekiel 10:7? Is "consuming fire" on the mercy seat above the ark of testimony?

I listened to a rabbi on YouTube who sad that usury is wrong. I was surprised to hear that, and it is because of the stereotypical Jewish banker. So I tried to research this, and I came across these Torah verses that forbid Usury: Psalms 15:5, Ezekiel 18:8–9, and Leviticus 25:35–37. However, I came across this from the Yoreh De'ah (a compilation of Jewish laws or halakha - I think is in the Talmud): “It is forbidden to participate in any way in an interest-bearing loan made by one Jew to another (160:1-3), but it is permitted to lend money to a non-Jew at interest (159:1-3).” My question is: Which takes precedent, the Torah or that halakha in the Talmud? If the latter, then it is OK for Jews to lend money to Gentiles with interest (low to payday loan high) even though the written Torah makes it seem like it’s bad to do anyone - both Jew and Gentile?

Psalm 17:13 says, "Arise, O God, disappoint, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is Your sword. Will you explain this? Do the wicked also have an appointed purpose? Isaiah 45:7 says, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I, God, do all these things."