menu_open Columnists
Rossella Tercatin

Rossella Tercatin

The Times of Israel

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

14th-century ‘machzor’ book at Israel’s National Library reveals lost Yom Kippur prayers

14th-century ‘machzor’ book at Israel’s National Library reveals lost Yom Kippur prayers

Newly digitized prayer book from Crimea’s Kaffa rite preserves liturgical poems unknown elsewhere, giving a glimpse of traditions lost when prayers...

yesterday 60

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Fabulous 1,400-year-old trove of gold coins sheds light on Galilee Christian city’s demise

Fabulous 1,400-year-old trove of gold coins sheds light on Galilee Christian city’s demise

Metal detector beeps lead archaeologists to nearly 100 coins and jewelry hidden during the 7th-century Sassanid invasion at Hippos (Sussita),...

previous day 9

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Rare proof of Galilee’s forgotten 4th-century Jewish Revolt revealed in hidden coin hoard

22 bronze coins found secreted in Huqoq near the Sea of Galilee show Jews used subterranean hideaways during the little-known Gallus Revolt of 351 CE

19.09.2025 10

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

In St. Peter’s Square, pilgrims hail new ‘Millennial’ saint, unaware of anti-Jewish undertones

In St. Peter’s Square, pilgrims hail new ‘Millennial’ saint, unaware of anti-Jewish undertones

Chief rabbi of Rome says it’s unsurprising many know little of the Church’s history of antisemitism, but focusing on newly canonized Carlo...

18.09.2025 60

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Ancient Levant farmers used irrigation to thrive amid millennia of drought, study shows

Ancient Levant farmers used irrigation to thrive amid millennia of drought, study shows

International scholars find that Bronze and Iron Age farmers proved resilient in the face of climate change, cultivating grapes and olives in...

18.09.2025 20

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Computers taught to read Dead Sea Scrolls in hunt for clues hidden from human eyes

Computers taught to read Dead Sea Scrolls in hunt for clues hidden from human eyes

By combining multispectral imaging with computer vision methods, Tel Aviv University researchers give scholars new tools to read, match, and study the...

13.09.2025 60

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

‘Oldest organ in Christendom’ makes music in Jerusalem after centuries of silence

‘Oldest organ in Christendom’ makes music in Jerusalem after centuries of silence

A team of researchers studied and restored dozens of organ pipes crafted some 1,000 years ago for Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, which are now...

12.09.2025 30

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Ministry sanctions Haredi schools for refusing Sephardi students; 55 still stuck at home

Ministry sanctions Haredi schools for refusing Sephardi students; 55 still stuck at home

With new sanctions and hearings looming, officials confront entrenched bias in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh that has left entire 9th-grade classes...

10.09.2025 10

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Unburied treasures: Israel unveils online database of 4 million archaeological finds

Unburied treasures: Israel unveils online database of 4 million archaeological finds

Antiquities Authority archive offers scholars and the public free access to artifacts, images and 3D models of sites, making Israel’s trove of...

10.09.2025 30

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

‘Many opinions, one heart’ rally seeks to chart different way to stand with the hostages

Some 150 participants gather in Jerusalem to connect over what unites Israelis rather than the divisions among them: ‘Bringing the hostages home...

04.09.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Mosaics, mikvehs and oil lamps found at grand estate shed new light on ancient Samaritans

Unprecedented 4th century site recently uncovered by archaeologists in central Israel offers insights into the life of the Israelite sect — and...

03.09.2025 100

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

For the 1st time, religious 1st-graders in Israel outnumber secular ones by thousands

Education Ministry data also shows 5,000 fewer children are enrolled in secular schools in the upcoming year compared to 2023; experts warn of...

01.09.2025 70

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Ruins revealed by wildfire boost Galilean site’s claim as New Testament’s Bethsaida

3-day blaze clears vegetation concealing parts of el-Araj on northern shore of Sea of Galilee, adding kindling to theory that location was hometown of...

30.08.2025 80

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Orthodox Church in Gaza City ordered to evacuate by Israeli army

Church leaders have vowed that clergy and nuns won’t leave, will stay to assist those who cannot flee, as IDF plans Gaza City conquest

27.08.2025 30

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Huge dam shows ancient Jerusalem adapted to climate change with advanced engineering

C-14 dating finds vast structure was built in 805–795  BCE; peer-reviewed study matches biblical narrative, reveals Jerusalem’s wealth, power...

27.08.2025 10

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Were King David’s Israelites the first Startup Nation? Bronze bonanza spotlights tech skills

Earliest evidence of bronze production in Southern Levant from 3,000 years ago indicates use of local copper from Arava desert, possibly during United...

26.08.2025 40

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

10 dead from Israeli strikes on Yemen’s capital, Houthi-run health ministry says

Iran-backed rebels says number of wounded has climbed to 102 and includes 7 children and 3 women after IDF said Houthis fired cluster bomb at Israel...

26.08.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Haredi lawmakers said pressing PM to allow draft dodgers to fly abroad for High Holidays

Deri aims to lift travel ban on draft evaders so they can make annual Ukraine pilgrimage; Goldknopf wants them to be able to visit NY, calling trips a...

26.08.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Tel Aviv synagogue contract sparks political storm over gender, prayer rights

City says non-discrimination clause won’t affect Orthodox practice, but lawyers warn it could expose synagogues on municipal land to lawsuits

25.08.2025 10

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Archaeologists dig in against antiquities bill aiming to deepen Israel’s hold on West Bank

A push to shift oversight of excavations in the territory to a civilian authority sparks worries of creeping annexation, with researchers in the field...

23.08.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

‘Holocaust in Gaza’ graffiti sprayed on Western Wall, reportedly by troubled Haredi man

Officials and politicians across the aisle condemn the act; judge reportedly orders the 27-year-old suspect, a resident of Jerusalem, hospitalized in...

11.08.2025 20

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Post-Oct 7, archaeologists’ CSI skills gave families closure. An exhibit reveals how

A new collection at the Israel Antiquities Authority campus in Jerusalem showcases the painstaking identification of victims and documentation of...

10.08.2025 40

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

When did lovers start kissing in ancient Israel? A new study looks to the Bible for clues

Research based on textual analysis traces the rise of ancient Israelites’ snogging to post-exilic times, likely influenced by Babylonian culture

09.08.2025 100

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

‘Abba of Naburya has perished’: Unique 1,900-year-old inscription found in Dead Sea cave

Four-line Aramaic text, one of the few legible inscriptions from the era, may be tied to the Bar Kochba Revolt. The words were spotted only inches...

07.08.2025 70

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Study suggests 4th-century prayer site may be one of Spain’s earliest synagogues

Oil lamps decorated with menorahs and architectural evidence uncovered in the Roman city of Castulo suggest that the building was not a church, but...

06.08.2025 40

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

‘Shabbat kept me’: Hostages and families have turned to faith in the face of trauma

For October 7 captives and their relatives, Jewish rituals have often become lifelines. Psychologists say religion offers meaning — but warn of...

02.08.2025 80

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

In a polarized time, new chief rabbi envisions revamped Rabbinate with a wide embrace

From the Haredi draft to marriage and kashrut, top Ashkenazi cleric Kalman Ber says he believes love, unity and quiet action — rather than public...

01.08.2025 10

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

2,000-year-old ‘Redemption of Zion’ coin reveals turmoil before Jerusalem’s destruction

Bronze coin minted in the fourth year of the Jewish Great Revolt against the Romans found by archaeologists excavating next to the Temple Mount

01.08.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Tiny 2,600-year-old clay sealing inscribed with biblical name found in Temple Mount soil

Minuscule artifact discovered at the Jerusalem-based Temple Mount Sifting Project may reference an official who worked for King Josiah and who appears...

30.07.2025 40

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Rare intact 5,500-year-old Canaanite blade workshop unearthed in southern Israel

The Early Bronze Age site of Nahal Qomem near Kiryat Gat presents hundreds of artifacts, shedding new light on trade specialization in ancient Canaan

28.07.2025 40

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Roman-era gold jewelry found at Hippos testifies to wealth of city likely visited by Jesus

Although found out of context, unearthed ring and earrings shed light on ancient Galilean affluence in the first centuries of the Common Era

25.07.2025 20

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Veteran educator charts new spiritual path rooted in her Jerusalem garden

Yiscah Smith’s new book, ‘Planting Seeds of the Divine,’ blends Hasidic wisdom, personal transformation and contemplative practice

19.07.2025 30

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Study shows Neanderthal neighbors split on how to butcher, cooking up caveman culture

Humans occupying two caves in northern Israel approximately 60,000 years ago butchered their game in different ways despite living in similar...

18.07.2025 40

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Prominent Israeli rabbis back intervention in Syria on behalf of Druze

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber and Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu issue statements stressing the bond between Israel and the Druze, describe...

17.07.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Chief Rabbinate must open rabbinical tests to women, High Court rules

The ruling does not imply that women are entitled to be ordained as rabbis, but it offers unprecedented recognition to their Torah scholarship

15.07.2025 20

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

New book by Reform rabbi broaches the most indigestible of Jewish questions

In ‘Living The Letters – An Alphabet of Emerging Jewish Thought,’ Israeli scholar Michael Marmur says future of Jewish state, modern Judaism...

12.07.2025 80

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Donkey bone study unlocks how Canaanites hauled ass from Egypt 4,700 years ago

Isotope teeth analysis from donkey skeletons at Gath shows valuable female asses were imported for ritual burial under homes, whereas local animals...

10.07.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Prominent Haredi school to operate separate program for Sephardi girls – report

Development follows years of discrimination against students of Middle Eastern origin in ultra-Orthodox educational frameworks and vain attempts to...

08.07.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Group of Europe-based imams visits Israel, bearing ‘message of peace’

Delegation meets President Herzog; will spend a week touring the country, and meeting military, political and religious authorities, victims of...

08.07.2025 100

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Iranian dissident poet in Israel prays recent war marks beginning of regime’s end

From Tehran’s prisons to Haifa’s shelters, Payam Feili, who fled his native country as a gay writer, expresses his concern for Iranians who oppose...

07.07.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Who was buried in Salome’s cave: A disciple of Jesus, a midwife or a Jewish queen?

New research suggests that a burial site once venerated by Christian pilgrims likely belonged to a member of Herod’s dynasty rather than a New...

06.07.2025 40

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

‘Israelis not welcome’: Milan Jews rattled by surge in antisemitic incidents

Anti-Jewish hate crimes in Italy nearly doubled in 2024, watchdog finds — but the local community says it still receives significant support from...

04.07.2025 30

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

State turns blind eye as Haredi schools sidestep core curriculum, study reveals

Even when the Education Ministry intervened to withdraw funding from noncompliant schools, the cuts were minimal, Israel Democracy Institute report...

03.07.2025 30

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

In Iraq, restored tomb of biblical prophet Nahum quietly attracts Jewish pilgrimage

Despite geopolitical tensions, dozens of Jews, including Israelis, have journeyed to shrine in Kurdish city of Alqosh since its rehabilitation in...

01.07.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

State’s plan for restored synagogue in Jerusalem’s Old City fuels fear of Haredi takeover

Ultra-Orthodox, Religious Zionist factions clash over management of rebuilt Tiferet Yisrael; critics fear site will be closed to public, exclude...

27.06.2025 60

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

‘We had 10 minutes to pack our life’: Jerusalem hotel absorbs displaced Israelis – again

After Iran’s missile strike shattered their homes, hundreds of Holon residents find temporary shelter in the capital while juggling fear, resilience...

27.06.2025 50

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Enigmatic bronze lion heads found in 1,900-year-old tomb in central Israel

Discovered near Kfar Saba, the ornate coffin fittings may hint at ties to pagan cults — or a Roman soldier’s final journey

26.06.2025 20

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

EU nations push for diplomacy after US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities

French foreign minister rejects Trump’s hint at regime change in Iran; German chancellor unequivocal in support for Israel and US actions

23.06.2025 10

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

As Iran war heats up, World Central Kitchen gets cooking to feed battered Israelis

Year after IDF killed 7 of its workers in erroneous fire on Gaza convoy, aid group provides food to first responders, thousands displaced by missile...

23.06.2025 10

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin

Education Ministry shuts 80 ultra-Orthodox schools flouting war closure orders

Schools stayed open despite IDF Home Front Command shuttering all education sites amid missile danger from Iran; ministry orders them closed, halts...

23.06.2025 70

The Times of Israel

Rossella Tercatin