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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘀 —𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟯— This is a third type of bronze coin depicting the four species that was issued during the Great Revolt. The reverse (shown here) displays a single lulav bundle, flanked by two ethrogim. 🧵1/4

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘀 —𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮— Displayed here is another type depicting the four species, also a bronze coin minted in the fourth year of the Great Revolt, in 69/70 CE. On the obverse (shown here on the right) is a single ethrog. 🧵1/3

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘀 —𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭— The four species of Sukkot (Leviticus 23:40) appear on several types of ancient Jewish coins. All were minted during the two major Jewish revolts against Rome. 🧵1/5

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘃𝘀. 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 My uncle, David A. Adler, is a well-known author of children’s books. (You may know his fabulous Cam Jansen series.) Fifty years ago, he published 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧: 𝘈 𝘚𝘶𝘬𝘬𝘰𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, based on a true story... 🧵1/8

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is actually quite an interesting discovery. Link to the @haaretzcom.bsky.social article at the end of the thread. 🧵1/7

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗸𝗸𝗼𝘁 This Bar Kokhba-period dinar depicts what I believe may be symbols of two mysterious Temple rituals associated with the festival of Sukkot: the water-libation ceremony and the willow rite. 🧵1/9

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The earliest account of anyone actually observing the Yom Kippur fast appears in the sectarian Pesher Habakkuk (pictured). The work tells of a certain “Wicked Priest” (probably one of the Hasmonean rulers) who pursued “the Teacher of Righteousness” (apparently the sect’s leader)... 🧵1/7

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

In ancient rabbinic literature, the standard term for a “Jew” is “Israelite” (ישראל). The term Jew/Jews (יהודי/יהודים) is remarkably rare. In stark contrast, the ancient inscriptional record suggests that in normal, everyday usage... 🧵1/4

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

This is a distribution map I just prepared showing all sites where inscriptions that include the name “Israel” have been found, from any period in antiquity. Note: Sites in the Southern Levant are not included (they have their own map). It will appear in my forthcoming study on the topic... 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

“When do you see some sign that there are people who are following the Torah?” Q&A session with Prof. Israel Finkelstein. The Getty Museum, November 17, 2022.

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

There is only one ancient Jew in the entire inscriptional record from antiquity who is ever called an “Israelite”. And that Jew’s name? Irene. A little girl from Rome who died before her fourth birthday. We have thousands of ancient inscriptions associated with Jews. Among them, the term... 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗵 In his report about the Romans’ triumphal procession celebrating their victory over the Judean revolt, Josephus described how the Temple’s treasures and vessels were paraded through Rome. The last of the Temple’s spoils to be carried out... 🧵1/7

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

“Israel is destroyed!” Today I am working on the “Israel” phrase on the Merneptah Stele—a first for me. I developed a fascination with ancient Egypt as a child, and when I was still in elementary school, my mom took one of my brothers and me to Egypt for a weeklong tour. 🧵1/3

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Is this the earliest inscription mentioning Jews? The image here is a facsimile of one of the wine list tablets found in excavations conducted between 1957 and 1963 at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal residence located at the Assyrian capital city of Calah. 🧵1/5

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Today I have been reading this book while working on a study published in 1938 by the Nazi scholar Karl Georg Kuhn. The final chapter of the book, by A.H. Rosenfeld, is entitled “Is There an Anti-Jewish Bias in Today’s University?” Chillingly, his answer is “yes.” The book was published in 2022.

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

—𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗺?— ❦ 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄 ❦ Today is the 17th of Tammuz, marking (according to both Josephus and the Mishnah) the day when the daily Tamid sacrifice ceased to be offered due to the Roman siege and encroachment on the Temple in 70 CE. 🧵1/11

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Yesterday, Joe Lauer reached out to let me know that he had read my newest article, “Reconsidering the Early Rabbinic ‘Miqweh,’” and that it reminded him of the last surviving Jewish ritual bath on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, built in 1941. In my article, I argued that... 🧵1/6

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Reconsidering the Early Rabbinic “Miqweh” New, open-access article, hot off the press. Link👇

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

The oldest textual witness to a Talmudic text remains unpublished. It was found written on plaster on the wall of the Tel Reḥov synagogue. Supposedly, it is identical to the same synagogue's famous mosaic inscription, but older. (The photo here is from elsewhere in the synagogue: see below). 🧵1/4

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

—New Open Access book, free for a limited time— 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙: 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮, 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 By Prof. Lidar Sapir-Hen (Tel Aviv University), published by Cambridge University Press. I am especially excited... 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

The event has been rescheduled, and will take place on June 11 at 3:30 PM (London time)—both in person and via Zoom. Link👇

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

The Herodian Temple Mount in Jerusalem was the largest sanctuary complex in the entire Greco-Roman world, with an area of 144,000 square meters. The second largest was the Jupiter Sanctuary in Damascus, with an area of 122,000 square meters. “There is an enormous gap... 🧵1/6

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Today, the British Museum announced that the event “Ancient Israel and Judah in the British Museum” had been postponed due to security concerns. The event was planned as part of Jewish Culture Month. “In recent days, we were informed... 🧵1/5

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

New open-access article on hiding complexes from the Roman and Early Byzantine periods in Jewish Galilee. By Yinon Shivtiel et al. The complexes appear to have been in use not only during the Great Revolt (66–70 CE)... 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

In honor of Shavu‘ot, which begins this evening, I will share a joke that I always use with my students to get across how halakhic reasoning works. 🧵1/5

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Resharing this now since I see that the course is on sale today (until midnight EST).

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗵 𝗹𝗲-𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶-𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗶 — 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮— Maimonides (twelfth century, born in Spain and died in Egypt) presented one of the first detailed explanations for why certain laws were classified by the early rabbis under the unique category of halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai. 🧵1/9

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗵 𝗹𝗲-𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶-𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗶 —𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭— In recent years, I’ve been working pretty intensively on the problem of halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai. With colleagues in the laboratory. Under a microscope and using various spectroscopic analyses. 🧵1/7

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

There is now a 50% off sale on many Yale University Press books, including my 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙢. The paperback now sells for $14! Sale applies only in the USA and Canada. Only until the end of May. Mothers' Day is coming up, and Fathers' Day soon after! Link to order in the first comment:

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

“Stitching in the Tefillin Cases from the Judean Desert: Material Analyses and Ritual Ramifications” Just published and available for FREE as an Open Access article on Dead Sea Discoveries. Co-authored with my brilliant colleagues, Drs. T. Emmerich Kamper, I. Cohen-Ofri, and N. Sukenik. 🧵1/3

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

FREE NEW BOOK My colleague, Dafna Langgut from Tel Aviv University, has just published a new monograph with Cambridge University Press in the same series I had recently published my 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘢𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮. Her volume is entitled: 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵, 1300–300 𝘉𝘊𝘌. 1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

The paradigm is shifting. Prof. Bart D. Ehrman (UNC Chapel Hill) interviewing Prof. John J. Collins (Yale University) on the origins of Judaism.

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

An independent Jewish state under Hasmonean rule lasted for a continuous period of 77 years. According to 1 Macc 14:44–45, Simon Thassi the Hasmonean was confirmed as the Jews' political, military, and religious leader on the 18th of Elul in 140 BCE. 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

The Pentateuch contains no freestanding prescriptive laws. Without exception, all the legal material is couched within narrative frames. Usually, these narrative frames involve God speaking to Moses (sometimes together with Aaron) and instructing him to convey commands to the Israelites. 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 This week’s Torah reading contains the highest concentration of ritual purity rules in the entire Pentateuch. Almost none of these are kept anymore. 1/6

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Julius Wellhausen claimed that the Judean community at Elephantine was a “fossilized remnant of unreformed Judaism.” To his mind, most Judeans had adopted the Torah as authoritative law by the late 5th century BCE; since the Elephantine community had not done so, it represents an aberration. 🧵1/4

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

This is the only depiction of Jesus wearing tefillin that I know about. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘪𝘰𝘯, Marc Chagall, 1943. Oil on canvas.

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

The National Socialist fascination with the scientific study of Judaism has left lasting effects on scholarship. My own path has often crossed with that of the SA-uniform-wearing Karl Georg Kuhn (י"ש). 🧵1/3

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

I can assure you that we are not related.

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

A wonderful new volume of Eretz-Israel has just been published, in honor of Prof. Ronny Reich. I've put the Table of Contents in the first comment. There are so many articles in here that I look forward to reading.

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Finally received my volumes 📚

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Today is the third of Adar, the day construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem was completed according to Ezra 6:15. And this week’s Torah reading includes the instruction to construct a golden, seven-branched menorah to be set up in the tabernacle. My post today honors both occasions... 🧵1/7

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Each new discovery only serves to support the “Hasmonean hypothesis”. Every year, more and more evidence for widespread Torah observance emerges from the ground. All of it dates to the Hasmonean period and onward... 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

BREAKING: New Chalk Quarry/Stone Vessel Workshop Discovered The Israel Antiquities Authority has now reported on the discovery of a second chalk quarry and chalk vessel workshop on the eastern slopes of Mt. Scopus, right outside of Jerusalem. Archaeological finds relating to... 🧵1/4

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Philo of Alexandria would have had no problem eating a cheeseburger. On the famous verse from this week’s Torah reading (Exod 23:19), he writes (Virtues 142–144): “If indeed anyone thinks it good to boil meat in milk, let him do so without cruelty and keeping clear of impiety” by cooking... 🧵1/3

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀: Torah Law and Everyday Life in First-Century Judea My new course is now available over at Paths in Biblical Studies. Thanks to Bart Ehrman and his team for hosting this! Link in the first comment. vimeo.com/1162592563/f...

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

This outstanding, programmatic essay by @gbarnea.bsky.social has just appeared in Marginalia Review of Books. I sense that we are on the verge of a paradigm shift which will see the approach outlined here becoming the norm in the study of Biblical literature and early Judaism. Link 👇

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Yonatan Adler @yonatan.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

I know it's a bit late for last week’s Torah reading. But then again, Javier Milei's devar Torah at Davos was a hard act to follow. Anyway, here’s an essay of mine on “How Archaeology Rewrote the History of Tefillin”, recently shared over @18forty.bsky.social's website. Link in the first comment.

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