Yesterday, Eric Lander was sworn in to his post as the White House science adviser using not a Bible but Pirkey Avot, the “Chapters of the Fathers”—a talmudic tractate devoted to ethical teachings, guidance for judges and scholars, the importance of Torah study, and other nonlegal topics. Of special interest is the particular edition selected, which was published in 1492 and belongs to the Library of Congress. Aviya Kushner writes:

The catalog entry, which can be viewed online, reads: “Chapters of the Fathers with commentary by Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides). Naples: Joshua ben Solomon Soncino, Iyar 11, 5252 May 8, 1492.” That year, 1492, was the year of the expulsion of all Jews from Spain, as well as the year Christopher Columbus set sail.

Europe in 1492 was home to two Ferdinands who shared a family connection and wielded immense power. In Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are forever connected with the Spanish Inquisition, in all its torture and horror; at the same time, the other Ferdinand, in Naples, accepted Jewish refugees [from Spain]. That story of tolerance at a time of danger moved Lander.

It’s hard not to be moved [as well] by the physical descriptions in the Library of Congress catalog entry, detailing what the text looks like. “This fragment is bound in 19th-century brown marbled boards with green and gilt end-papers of a Florentine design,” the catalog entry notes. “The paper is crisp and well-preserved. . . . There are no handwritten remarks or signs of censorship.”

Early Friday morning, Israel attacked military installations near the Iranian cities of Isfahan and nearby Natanz, the latter being one of the hubs of the country’s nuclear program. Jerusalem is not taking credit for the attack, and none of the details are too certain, but it seems that the attack involved multiple drones, likely launched from within Iran, as well as one or more missiles fired from Syrian or Iraqi airspace. Strikes on Syrian radar systems shortly beforehand probably helped make the attack possible, and there were reportedly strikes on Iraq as well.

Iran itself is downplaying the attack, but the S-300 air-defense batteries in Isfahan appear to have been destroyed or damaged. This is a sophisticated Russian-made system positioned to protect the Natanz nuclear installation. In other words, Israel has demonstrated that Iran’s best technology can’t protect the country’s skies from the IDF. As Yossi Kuperwasser puts it, the attack, combined with the response to the assault on April 13,

clarified to the Iranians that whereas we [Israelis] are not as vulnerable as they thought, they are more vulnerable than they thought. They have difficulty hitting us, but we have no difficulty hitting them.

Nobody knows exactly how the operation was carried out. . . . It is good that a question mark hovers over . . . what exactly Israel did. Let’s keep them wondering. It is good for deniability and good for keeping the enemy uncertain.

The fact that we chose targets that were in the vicinity of a major nuclear facility but were linked to the Iranian missile and air forces was a good message. It communicated that we can reach other targets as well but, as we don’t want escalation, we chose targets nearby that were involved in the attack against Israel. I think it sends the message that if we want to, we can send a stronger message. Israel is not seeking escalation at the moment.