According to the Talmud, the Jewish marriage contract or k’tubah was standardized by the sage Simon ben Shetah in the 2nd century BCE. In later years, they were often decorated with patterns and illustrations. Emily Leah Zitter delves into the physical history of these documents.

The earliest written k’tubah known is dated almost 2,000 years ago, before the Bar Kokhba rebellion in 132 CE. In a cache of documents found in a cave near Ein Gedi, archaeologists found a k’tubah belonging to a woman named Babatha, given to her by her second husband, Judah. The wording of the k’tubah, written in Aramaic as k’tubot still are today, would be familiar to us, but there was one major difference between then and now: in those days, men could have more than one wife, and Judah already had another wife, Miriam. From other documents we discover that Babatha went to court after Judah’s death to fight that other wife and her family to retain possession of four date orchards she was entitled to as part of her k’tubah.

Decorative k’tubot became popular in 17th- and 18th-century Italy. . . .  Hand-painted on large parchments, they included biblical scenes connected with marriage, [biblical verses], flowers, birds, and geometric designs—works of art on public display at the weddings. They often included architectural motifs such as columns and pillars, appropriate for a document that is the foundation of a Jewish home.

Between December 27 and January 6, terrorists in Gaza fired rockets at Israel almost every night. On Monday, one rocket struck a home in the much-bombarded town of Sderot, although no one was injured. The rocket fire had largely halted last spring, and for some time barrages were often the result of Israeli forces closing in a Hamas unit or munitions depot. But the truth—which gives credence to Ran Baratz’s argument in his January essay that the IDF is struggling to accomplish its mission—is that Hamas has been able to rebuild. Yoni Ben Menachem writes that the jihadist group has been “producing hundreds of new rockets using lathes smuggled into tunnels that remain operational in Gaza.” Moreover, it has been replenishing its ranks:

According to Israeli security officials, Hamas has recruited approximately 4,000 new fighters over the past month. This rapid expansion bolsters its fighting capabilities and complicates Israel’s efforts to apply military pressure on Hamas to expedite a hostage deal. Hamas’s military recovery has allowed it to prolong its war of attrition against the IDF and adopt tougher stances in hostage negotiations. The funds for this recruitment effort are reportedly from the sale of humanitarian-aid packages, which Hamas forcibly seizes and resells in Gaza’s markets.

In fact, Ben Menachem writes, Hamas’s rocket fire is part of the same strategy:

By firing rockets, Hamas seeks to demonstrate its resilience and operational capability despite the IDF’s prolonged offensive. This message is aimed at both Gaza’s residents and the Israeli public, underscoring that Hamas remains a significant force even after enduring heavy losses [and] that Israel cannot easily occupy this region, currently a focal point of IDF operations.