Prof. Yonatan Adler is an Associate Professor at the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Ariel University, where he also heads the Institute of Archaeology. He studied at Yeshivat Merkaz Harav, where he received rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and subsequently earned his Ph.D. in archaeology from Bar-Ilan University. Adler was appointed in 2018 by the Minister of Culture to serve as a member of the Israeli Council for Archaeology. He has written extensively on the subject of archaeological evidence relating to the observance of Torah law, covering topics such as ancient ritual immersion pools, dietary laws, ancient tefillin found in the Judean Desert, and chalk vessels (used by Jews who observed the purity laws). Adler has directed excavations at several sites throughout Israel, most recently at ‘Einot Amitai and at Reina, two sites in Galilee where Roman-era chalk vessel workshops have been unearthed. His book, The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal, is due out with Yale University Press in November 2022.