Silvan Shalom: The Money Man

The rabbi of the Tunisian synagogue in Beersheba rises to laud the city's most powerful son. Using the arcane Jewish art of gematria, which ascribes numerical values to Hebrew letters, the rabbi tells the worshipers gathered for afternoon prayers that there is a difference of only one between the total for the title of the week's Bible reading and the name Silvan Shalom. That, he continues, proves that the man who today serves as Israel's Finance Minister is destined for bigger things. "We know we'll see you as Prime Minister," he tells Shalom. Tortuous as the rabbi's math may be, Shalom...