Page 30 - Shalom Toronto Lifestyle Passover 2020

Travels to Israel Continued from Page 29 TABGHA
NAZARETH
Christians traditionally accept Tabgha as the place where the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes occurred. It is said that Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fishes into enough food to feed the 5,000 hungry people who had come to hear him speak.
The modern Church of the Multiplication rests on the site of two earlier churches with floor mosaics being added to the second one. A mosaic found in front of the altar depicts two fish flanking a basket containing four loaves of bread.
CAPERNAUM
Capernaum was an ancient fishing village on the Sea of Galilee. Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one on top of the other. A house turned into a church by the Byzantines is believed to have been the home of Saint Peter.
Nazareth is the sacred town where Jesus grew up and, as such, is a centre of Christian pilgrimage with many shrines commemorating biblical events. The Church of the Annunciation is the largest church in the Middle East. It marks the spot where tradition has it that the Archangel Gabriel announced the future birth of Jesus to Mary, an event known as the Annunciation.
The current church is a two story building constructed over the site of an earlier Byzantine and then a Crusader church. The lower level contains the Grotto of the Annunciation believed to be the remains of the original childhood home of Mary.
BET SHE’AN
In Roman times, Bet She’an was the leading city of the Decapolis, a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. Ancient ruins from various periods include, among other things, a colonnaded street, a temple and a Crusader fortress. It contains the country’s best preserved Roman theatre that once seated 8,000 spectators. Excavations have revealed eighteen cities, one on top of the other, from periods including Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Muslim, Crusader and Ottoman.
Capernaum Synagogue
Attribution: David Shankbone
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Baha’i World Centre, Haifa
Attribution: Zvi Roger of the Spokesperson Publicity & Advertising Division, Haifa Municipality
Church of the Multiplication, Tabgha
Page 30 SHALOM TORONTO Passover 2020