The current Hebrew year, 5782, is shmitah, or the sabbatical year, on which, according to biblical edict, debts are forgiven and the land left to lie fallow. Since the 1st century BCE, observant Jews have used a rabbinic workaround known as prozbul—designed for economies more complex than those of the late Bronze Age—that allows creditors to press their claims even after the seventh year. Drawing on his own experience with massive debt after the 2008 financial crisis tanked his startup, Baruch Sterman examines the meaning of the shmitah, and its modern-day relevance:

Last month, the Chinese minister of defense, together with senior military figures, paid a visit to Tehran, where they met with their Iranian counterparts, as well as with the Iranian president. Tuvia Gering and Jason M. Brodsky doubt the talks will result in a grand Sino-Iranian alliance, but they nonetheless expect increased collaboration between the two countries. For many years, they note, Beijing has evaded or violated embargoes to sell arms to the Islamic Republic, and there’s reason to expect more of the same: