In 2009, archaeologists excavating the ancient Galilean city of Migdal (Aramaic Magdala) discovered the remains of a synagogue built and used prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Although many ancient synagogues have been discovered in the region, all but a few were built in the 2nd century CE or later, making this one a rare and exciting find. Most fascinating was the engraved stone block in its center, which has sparked many interpretations, including that it was a table for reading the Torah, a place for burning incense, an elaborate symbolic representation of the Temple in its entirety, and even a clue to understanding the origins of Christian theology. David Gurevich, while appreciating the object’s significance, cautions against overreading its symbolism and ramifications:

The Magdala Stone has a rectangular form (60×50×40 cm). Its base consists of four legs. Five of its sides are decorated with reliefs. On the stone’s upper face, there is a rosette pattern, two palm trees, and various plant elements. Another two rosettes with arches are found on a narrow (back?) face. The longer sides depict what may be seen as arched gateways, and a strange artifact that [resembles] a lamp.

The most interesting side of the stone has an extraordinary relief of a menorah flanked by two amphorae [jugs] and two columns. It is a unique finding because the Magdala Stone provides the earliest visual representation of the menorah in synagogue art. Due to the dating, it is possible that the artist had seen the original candelabrum of the Temple with his own eyes. Columns found in later Jewish art . . . are usually explained by scholars as an architectural façade that symbolized the entrance to the Temple. Hence, the appearance of the menorah combined with the façade could not be random. . . .

The menorah was definitely important as a symbol in the Jewish art [of the time] and it is meant to invoke the Temple; but the menorah was also a symbol of Judaism and Jews in the ancient world. It is [entirely] reasonable to find a menorah decorating a place where a Jewish community gathers to study Scripture. This does not necessitate that every single ornament on the stone ought to be linked to Jerusalem’s Temple.

As for the more elaborate interpretations, Gurevich cites the historian Steven Fine, who has compared them to something that might be found in the novels of Dan Brown.

While it is commendable that administrators of several universities finally called upon police to crack down on violent and disruptive anti-Israel protests, the actions they have taken may be insufficient. At Columbia, demonstrators reestablished their encampment on the main quad after it had been cleared by the police, and the university seems reluctant to use force again. The school also decided to hold classes remotely until the end of the semester. Such moves, whatever their merits, do nothing to fix the factors that allowed campuses to become hotbeds of pro-Hamas activism in the first place. The editors of National Review examine how things go to this point:

Since the 10/7 massacre, Columbia’s Jewish students have been forced to endure routine calls for their execution. It shouldn’t have taken the slaughter, rape, and brutalization of Israeli Jews to expose chants like “Globalize the intifada” and “Death to the Zionist state” as calls for violence, but the university refused to intervene on behalf of its besieged students. When an Israeli student was beaten with a stick outside Columbia’s library, it occasioned little soul-searching from faculty. Indeed, it served only as the impetus to establish an “Anti-Semitism Task Force,” which subsequently expressed “serious concerns” about the university’s commitment to enforcing its codes of conduct against anti-Semitic violators.

But little was done. Indeed, as late as last month the school served as host to speakers who praised the 10/7 attacks and even “hijacking airplanes” as “important tactics that the Palestinian resistance have engaged in.”

The school’s lackadaisical approach created a permission structure to menace and harass Jewish students, and that’s what happened. . . . Now is the time finally to do something about this kind of harassment and associated acts of trespass and disorder. Yale did the right thing when police cleared out an encampment [on Monday]. But Columbia remains a daily reminder of what happens when freaks and haters are allowed to impose their will on campus.