Dr. Henry Abramson

‘No beer on Passover, okay?’ —Jerusalem to Jewish soldiers in Egypt, 419 BCE

One fine day in the spring of 419 or 418 BCE, a Jewish soldier opened up an official missive sent to him and his fellow troops stationed in upper Egypt.   The author of the letter was Hananiah, a Jewish official in Yahud, the name the Persians assigned to the former region of Judah. As…