Although it may come as a surprise to many of today’s Jews, the symbols of the zodiac were a common motif of synagogue art in ancient times, and astrology plays an important role in the Talmud, in kabbalistic texts, and even in the works of rationalist rabbis like the medieval poet and Bible-commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, the Jewish calendar combines both lunar and solar elements, so that each month corresponds to a zodiac symbol. The artist Mark Podwal explains the significance of Cancer, which is the constellation for the current month of Tammuz and the subject of a mosaic he designed:

Though the crab is weak, its pinch is excruciatingly painful. The crab’s pinch characterizes the pain the Jewish people endured in Tammuz, [the only] month with no festivals yet a fast day. Legend says that the first of Tammuz was the day that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

A midrash adds that the first of Tammuz was the day that Moses—whom God instructed to speak to a rock in order for it to yield water to quench the thirst of the Israelites—sinned by striking the stone instead. As a punishment for not speaking to the rock, God forbade Moses from entering the Promised Land.

You can see an image of the mosaic at the link below.

With the IDF engaged in ground maneuvers in both northern and southern Gaza, and a plan about to go into effect next week that would separate more than 100,000 civilians from Hamas’s control, an end to the war may at last be in sight. Yet there seems to be no agreement within Israel, or without, about what should become of the territory. Efraim Inbar assesses the various proposals, from Donald Trump’s plan to remove the population entirely, to the Israeli far-right’s desire to settle the Strip with Jews, to the internationally supported proposal to place Gaza under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA)—and exposes the fatal flaws of each. He therefore tries to reframe the problem:

[M]any Arab states have failed to establish a monopoly on the use of force within their borders. Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan all suffer from civil wars or armed militias that do not obey the central government.

Perhaps Israel needs to get used to the idea that in the absence of an entity willing to take Gaza under its wing, chaos will prevail there. This is less terrible than people may think. Chaos would allow Israel to establish buffer zones along the Gaza border without interference. Any entity controlling Gaza would oppose such measures and would resist necessary Israeli measures to reduce terrorism. Chaos may also encourage emigration.

Israel is doomed to live with bad neighbors for the foreseeable future. There is no way to ensure zero terrorism. Israel should avoid adopting a policy of containment and should constantly “mow the grass” to minimize the chances of a major threat emerging across the border. Periodic conflicts may be necessary. If the Jews want a state in their homeland, they need to internalize that Israel will have to live by the sword for many more years.