In the Hebrew Bible, the word totafot appears only three times, each in reference to t’filin or phylacteries—small boxes containing parchment with short passages from the Torah—that are to be worn on the head. The word’s literal meaning is obscure, and gave rise to various rabbinic etymologies. After discussing these in light of modern linguistic and ethnographic knowledge, Stanley Dubinsky and Hesh Epstein present an explanation provided by the contemporary biblical scholar Jeffrey Tigay:

Tigay argues for an interpretation . . . wherein totafot is a headband, and suggests that the use of the word is as much metaphorical as it is literal. Tigay explains the probable source of the word’s root meaning (“something that encircles”), illustrates how its use in Exodus could be understood metaphorically (i.e., “something one holds close”), and points out that contemporaneous Egyptian and Assyrian art from the 8th century BCE shows the wearing of headbands to be typical of peoples (e.g., the Israelites) living in the region northeast of Egypt.

In discussing the earliest translations of totafot, Tigay notes that it is almost always used in reference to something that “completely encircles the part of the body on which it is worn.”

We are thus left with a way of understanding totafot as an ordinary word, as Rabbi Moses Naḥmanides [1194–1270] would have it, neither borrowed from Egyptian, Coptic, or Phrygian [as one talmudic opinion suggests], nor connected to other cultures’ magic rituals for dispelling evil, [as some modern scholars have asserted]. And rather than involving some mysterious allusion to the construction of the head t’filin, its meaning is a straightforward metaphor reminding us how important it is to keep the teachings close to us and foremost in our minds.

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.