ancient knowledge, modern use

[chaos_wrangler]

I remember learning about a tefach (ancient "hand width" measurement) back in grade school. We asked the obvious question (c'mon, of course we looked at our (not-all-the-same-size 5th grade girls') hands and the (male adult) teacher's hands), and we were told that it's approximately 4". Fast forward a bunch of years

Comments

[taylweaver]

That's like when a friend was describing to me how to make yogurt, and one of the steps involves heating the milk to a temperature of yad soledet bo. (As in, he was rather entertained when the instructions said something about the right temperature being when you touch it and pull your finger back.)