What the Israeli Supreme Court’s Conversion Ruling Means, and Why It Matters
Especially with an election on the way.
March 2, 2021
Why Does the Talmud Recommend Using Coins with a Pagan Deity Carved on Them
The Tyre shekel and Heracles-Melqarth.
This week’s Torah reading of Ki Tissa begins with God’s commandment to Moses to levy a tax on the Israelites of a single half-shekel silver coin per person, on the Israelites, which also serves as a census. In Second Temple times, the levy continued to be collected annually, and the funds helped to cover the Temple’s expenses. The talmudic tractate devoted to the mechanics of this tax specifies that coins manufactured in the city of Tyre—today in Lebanon—are preferred for this purpose. As David Hendin notes, from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE, these coins were the most widely circulated in the Land of Israel:
March 2, 2021
China Poses a Growing Threat to U.S. Interests in the Middle East
It has allied with Iran, Hizballah, and associated militias.
What the Khashoggi Report Means for U.S.-Saudi Relations
Assessing the evidence.
Why Does the Talmud Recommend Using Coins with a Pagan Deity Carved on Them
The Tyre shekel and Heracles-Melqarth.
A Curtain Factory and Seattle’s Sephardi Legacy
The Kosher Canyon.