In the 15th century, the University of Padua’s medical school opened its doors to Jewish students, and by the 1600s it had become the alma mater of a sizeable number of Jewish physicians at a time when European universities were generally closed to Jews. Edward Reichman examines a set of extraordinary documents to show how some of these students combined talmudic study with their medical training:

Early modern Italy seems to have provided particularly fertile soil for the nurturing and growth of the physician-rabbi. . . . This unique geographic and chronological synthesis of medicine and Torah learning is also reflected in an under-recognized phenomenon. [Many physicians were ordained as rabbis]; other physicians, or in some cases, soon-to-be physicians, obtained the prestigious degree of haver, a lower form of rabbinic ordination.

Little attention has been paid to this not insignificant group of Jewish physicians in Italy who procured a haver certificate. During this period, the University of Padua was, with few exceptions, the primary place of attendance for university-trained Jewish physicians.

Literally meaning “friend,” the term haver is talmudic in origin and akin to the modern academic term “fellow.” Reichman carefully examines the haver diplomas, as well as congratulatory poems celebrating these scholars’ graduations from medical school, and observes that status as a haver and as a physician seemed to go together.

Information about a supposedly near-finalized hostage deal continued to trickle out yesterday. While it’s entirely possible that by the time you read this a deal will be much more certain, it is every bit as likely that it will have fallen through by then. More likely still, we will learn that there are indefinite and unspecified delays. Then there are the details: even in the best of scenarios, not all the hostages will be returned at once, and Israel will have to make painful concessions in exchange, including the release of hundreds of hardened terrorists and the withdrawal from key parts of the Gaza Strip.

Unusually—if entirely appropriately—the president-elect’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has participated in the talks alongside members of President Biden’s team. Philip Klein examines the incoming Trump administration’s role in the process:

President-elect Trump has repeatedly warned that there would be “all hell to pay” if hostages were not returned from Gaza by the time he takes office. While he has never laid out exactly what the specific consequences for Hamas would be, there are some ominous signs that Israel is being pressured into paying a tremendous price.

There is obviously more here than we know. It’s possible that with the pressure from the Trump team came reassurances that Israel would have more latitude to reenter Gaza as necessary to go after Hamas than it would have enjoyed under Biden. . . . That said, all appearances are that Israel has been forced into making more concessions because Trump was concerned that he’d be embarrassed if January 20 came around with no hostages released.

While Donald Trump’s threats are a welcome rhetorical shift, part of the problem may be their vagueness. After all, it’s unlikely the U.S. would use military force to unleash hell in Gaza, or could accomplish much in doing so that the IDF can’t. More useful would be direct threats against countries like Qatar and Turkey that host Hamas, and threats to the persons and bank accounts of the Hamas officials living in those counties. Witkoff instead praised the Qatari prime minister for “doing God’s work” in the negotiations.”