One of the main practices of the holiday of Sukkot, which begins at sundown tonight, is dwelling in a sukkah, or booth. Naturally, rabbinic tradition sets forth numerous prescriptions for how a sukkah must be constructed, including minimum and maximum dimensions, for which the unit is a tefaḥ, or handbreadth. In the past century, various rabbinic authorities have argued for conversions from this and other biblical and talmudic measurements into modern units. Some ancient jars may settle this question once and for all:

[T]hree Israeli archaeologists . . . found an astonishing common denominator among storage jars in Israel over a period of 350 years—the inner-rim diameter of the jar’s neck was almost identical. The distribution of this diameter is consistent with measurements of the palm of a male hand and, according to the three, this match is not coincidental. It appears to reflect the use of the original metrics for the biblical measurement of the tefaḥ, a unit of measurement that was used primarily by ancient Israelites and appears frequently in the Bible and is the basis for many Jewish laws.

The team did three-dimensional scans of 307 Iron Age jars found in Khirbet Qeiyafa from the time of the Judaean kingdom in the early 10 century BCE, “hippo” jars found in northern Israel from . . . the 9th century BCE, and royal Judean storage jars from the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.

The researchers observed large variations between the jars-even those from the same time period and geographic region. Only one measurement remained constant—the averaged inner-rim diameter which always measured, with a standard deviation, between 8.85 and 8.97 centimeters [about 3.5 inches]. The distribution of this diameter is statistically identical to the handbreadth of modern man.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.