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Photo Courtesy of the Author

“Tekhelet resembles the sea, and the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles God’s holy throne,” according to the Talmud (Menachot 43b). The Talmud and other ancient sources guided author Greenspan to search for the source of tekhelet in the waters off the Mediterranean port city of Akko, in northern Israel. Here Greenspan’s dive partner, physicist Baruch Sterman, at right, and an interested rabbi examine the fruits of their search: the Murex trunculus snail (see photo of Murex trunculus snail).