Everyone at one time or another had to make a serious choice - a big name university or a local less expensive one - right? So when in doubt just toss a coin: Heads or tails ("rosh oh zanav"). So why in Hebrew do we use this weird phrase "etz oh pali" and what does it mean? Believe it or not, this a totally modern phrase and only dates back from the time of the British Mandate. In 1927, the British minted a coin, on one side was an engraving of a tree and on the other were the words in Hebrew "Palestina EY" (Eretz Yisrael) as well as the word "Palestine" in English and Arabic. The tree side became the Etz. The "Pali"? Yup, from the word "Palestina." Today the side of any coin with the pictures is the heads and the side with the words is the tails. Wait, I'm not sure - I’ll flip you for it.

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