We tend to think of colors as fixed properties, and anyone who has studied French, Spanish, German, or Modern Hebrew knows that the basic crayon-box colors have exact equivalents in these languages. But this is not true of all languages. Russian, for instance, has no precise equivalent for “blue,” and other tongues have only two or three words for colors altogether. There was once a Yiddish humor magazine called Royte Pomerantsen—“Red Oranges”—because Yiddish had a word for the fruit but not for the hue. Biblical Hebrew has words meaning white (lavan), black (shahor), and red (adom), as well as names for specific dyes like the turquoise t’khelet. Other color words are a bit of mystery, which leads to problems in interpreting this week’s Torah reading, with its detailed discussions of a dermatological ailment usually rendered as “leprosy.” Phil Lieberman explains:

The basic rules for identifying ritually impure skin disease (tsara’at) are based on color changes: the afflicted individual is impure if the color of the affected skin turns “white” or “reddish white” and if the affected hair turns white. One sub-case, however, mentions the color tsahov. This is a rare Hebrew word, found only three times, all in this section (Leviticus 13:30–36). . . . In Modern Hebrew, it means “yellow,” but is this what it means in the Bible?

Lieberman takes us on a tour of the various translations offered throughout the ages (themselves often ambiguous), which range from yellow to red to simply pale or shiny.

Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas (the latter necessary to prevent further hostage taking) are to some extent contradictory, since Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, will only turn over hostages in exchange for concessions. But Jacob Nagel remains convinced that Jerusalem should continue to pursue both goals:

Only consistent military pressure on Hamas can lead to the hostages’ release, either through negotiation or military operation. There’s little chance of reaching a deal with Hamas using current approaches, including the latest Egyptian proposal. Israeli concessions would only encourage further pressure from Hamas.

There is no incentive for Hamas to agree to a deal, especially since it believes it can achieve its full objectives without one. Unfortunately, many contribute to this belief, mainly from outside of Israel, but also from within.

Recent months saw Israel mistakenly refraining from entering Rafah for several reasons. Initially, the main [reason was to try] to negotiate a deal with Hamas. However, as it became clear that Hamas was uninterested, and its only goal was to return to its situation before October 7—where Hamas and its leadership control Gaza, Israeli forces are out, and there are no changes in the borders—the deal didn’t mature.