Tzipori: Jewish Creativity, Jewish Renewal, Jewish Future!

Rabbi Lee Diamond
from “Venues and Values—Atarim v'Arachim” © 2007

A visit to Tzipori is part of our Synagogue Tours program (see Day 6): 

The Sanhedrin Travels:

• From Jerusalem to Yavneh
• From Yavneh to Usha
• From Usha to Yavneh
• From Yavneh to Usha
• Usha to Shefaram and
• Shefaram to Beit Shearim to...

Tzipori

During the first Jewish revolt against Rome in the years 66-70 CE the Jews and leaders of Tzipori refused to enter the struggle against Rome. While the Zealots were in struggle with Roman authority, Tzipori remained non militant and sought the ways of peace and compromise.

After the destruction of the Second Temple and the end of the independent sovereign Jewish state that existed in Eretz Israel, the Jews of Israel, living under Roman rule, had to chart a new course to continue Jewish life.

In Tzipori, in the heart of the Galilee, Rabbi Judah the Prince (head of the Sanhedrin of his time) gathered together the Oral Law that had been developing until his day, edited and published it naming it the “Mishna”. It is this very Mishna that would allow for Jewish survival in this time and indeed would create the pattern of Jewish development for all times.
  
Tzipori is not just another site in Israel with rich archeology. Tzipori is a touchstone. It is one of the most significant Jewish communities of its time. . It is here that we witness the creativity, the renewal, the ability to adjust and expand and the understanding that the Jewish people must learn to live and create in all environments even as a minority.

According to the Midrash, Judah the Prince was born in 135 CE. on the day that Rabbi Akiva was martyred by the Romans. Some would say that G-d Himself saw to it that the chain of tradition would be carried on.

Judah was a man of his times. He understood the needs of the Jewish people whose future was in danger. Judah understood the world and culture of Rome. He knew that he had to provide the Jewish people with a framework for Jewish life and he knew as well that we had to live with Roman and Hellenistic culture.

Judah was at home in both these cultures and indeed the Mishna that he created attempted to provide a “Guide for the Perplexed” for its time.



Bringing Tzipori to Life in Our Time 

Here in this thriving 2nd century town of some Jewish 12,000 residents we find this Roman theatre. What occurred in a Roman theatre at the time?

The performances probably consisted of light farces and animal dancing. Perhaps some gladiators exchanging blows? Perhaps some slaves or criminals being fed to the lions? Perhaps some nudity or some lewdness? The Talmud declares: "Blessed is the man who does not go to the theatres and circuses of the Romans in the Land of Israel.”

Yet in the midst of this community of Jews, under the leadership of “Prince Judah” there would be regular gatherings of as many as 4,500 participants and spectators. The question is rather obvious! Did the Jews avoid the theatre? Did they participate? Did Judah the Prince ever attend? Did he allow the Jewish “Tziporians” to attend?

The Jewish Quarter of Tzipori

It is reported that there were 18 synagogues in Tzipori at the time of Judah the Prince. The streets of the Jewish quarter are lined with mikvaot or ritual baths fully visible to the naked eye. Clearly this was an active and committed Jewish community.

And yet...adjacent to this quarter is the Roman theatre!!! Just a stone’s throw away!
Did the teenagers and young adults sneak off to watch a show? Did young Jewish girls date young gladiators? What about the Roman gods that were displayed in every Roman theatre - were they to be avoided? Were the Jewish kids starting to speak Latin? Any kids being named Alexander or similar? Did all the boys get circumcised? What about the dress code? Togas or Tzitzit? Or maybe Togas with Tzitzit?

Could you go to one of the 18 synagogues in the morning and then to the theatre in the afternoon? And if you did, would a good, wet, dunk in the mikvah purify the soul? So hard to be a Jew!

The Roman Villa and the Mona Lisa

Here in this wonderful villa we discover an overwhelming mosaic floor dedicated to the cult of Dionysus, the god of wine. Panel after panel of this marvelous mosaic is dedicated to this pagan god and its wine cult each depicting the Roman god of feasting, fertility, drunkenness, ecstasy and revelry. Fifteen panels portray scenes such as Dionysus' victory procession to India, his marriage to Ariadne and his drinking contest with Heracles, the largest of the panels. Aspects of the Dionysian cult are also shown, such as grape treading, shepherds and scenes of rejoicing and gift bearing.

A frame of 22 circular acanthus leaf medallions surrounds the Dionysus panels, most of which contain hunting scenes of wild animals and naked cupids holding bows and arrows. Centered amongst the medallions are two portraits, of which the northern one is severely damaged.

The southern portrait depicts a captivating woman adorned with earrings and a laurel garland. Her gaze is riveting; in fact, she appears to look directly at you from every corner of the room. This woman has been dubbed "The Mona Lisa of the Galilee", not because she resembles Leonardo’s subject, but rather because she stares at all of us. Who is she? No doubt the important figure who resided here was a man of great wealth and power and had a "trophy wife" would have been a probable accoutrement to his lifestyle.

So who cares? So what? Romans all lived this way!

But there is a theory that this was the home of Judah the Prince! Is this possible? Could a nice Jewish descendent of Moses have a mosaic like this? Isn’t this idol worship? What about the idea that Jews don’t have human images or images of Roman gods? Is it possible that Yehudah Ha Nasi was assimilated or assimilating?

Let’s get some answers to all these questions raised at Tzipori.

The Famous Tzipori Synagogue and its Mosaic Floor

Herein lies a potential key to our question. Were we assimilated in Tzipori into Roman culture? Did we attend the Roman theatre? Could Judah the Prince have lived in a Roman Villa dedicated to a Roman god and with human images.

Can one live in two worlds? Can one integrate two worlds? On the very floor of this synagogue we find the answer. A zodiac calendar along side Biblical designs! A menorah along side pagan symbols! The answer becomes clearer the more we reflect on our own times. Yes most of us live in two worlds and we adjust to meet the world in which we live. Life is not black and white. Life is dynamic and changing. Just as the human develops in mind and body, so too does our culture and our religion develop. Judaism grew from the time of the Temple to the time of Tzipori. Realities changed and so must we.

And this is the key lesson of Tzipori for the serious student and tourist!

Judaism grew and adjusted to the new realities of the times. The Mishnah reflects this change and Tzipori is a lesson in Jewish Creativity–Jewish Renewal—Jewish Future. Anyone who wishes to discover the real and all too often missed Israel may contact:

Israel Celebration Tours where every site is a hidden value.

 

Chanukah Happened Right Here!

A Different View! Jew against Jew
Rabbi Lee Diamond

from “Venues and Values—Atarim v'Arachim” © 2007

It being Chanukah season, I believe it is appropriate to discuss the Macabees and the Hasmoneans.


Close to today’s new city of Modiin, halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, are the ruins of what may be a Hasmonean burial site. While it is not archeologically established that this is indeed an authentic Hasmonean site, this was the area in which much of the activity of the Macabean rebellion took place during the Greek period [C 166 BCE.]

The Greek Hellenistic period in Israel is one of the most challenging that we experienced in our history. Many Jews assimilated or were deeply influenced by this major and enticing world culture. The Hasmoneans, or Macabees, represent an attempt to reclaim control over the land and Jewish culture from the Greeks, Hellenistic culture and Jewish assimilation.


Here in this region, in site of what may be the graves of the Macabees, we retell the story of Hellenism and Israel in the second century BCE and the attempt on the part of this group to stem the tide of assimilation. All too often we relate to Chanukah as a holiday celebrating Jews defeating the Greek empire in Eretz Yisrael and the freedom that comes for this. In fact the real story of Chanukah is the struggle of Jewish culture in Israel against rampant Greek Hellenistic influence.


One definition of Jewish identity is that in order to stay within the Jewish culture, Jews must maintain three things: their language, their names and their national dress. If we think about the influence of Greek Hellenistic culture in Israel in this period it was exactly these very cultural symbols which were changing and being lost. Greek became a dominant language among the aristocratic Jew; They began to prefer Greek names to Hebrew names and they began to dress similarly to the Hellenists.

Thus Chanukah was a struggle of Jew against Jew. It was an attempt to prevent Jews from assimilating into their surroundings and celebrates the rededication of the Temple following Judah Macabee's victory over the Seleucids.


After Antiochus issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice, a rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean, sparked the revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods. Mattathias killed a Hellenistic Jew who stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias' place. He and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judea. After Mattathias' death about a year later in 166 BCE, his son Judah Macabee led an army of Jewish dissidents in a guerrilla warfare victory over the Seleucid dynasty, which at first was directed against Jewish collaborators, of whom there were many. The Macabees destroyed pagan altars in the villages and circumcised children. The term Macabees as used to describe the Jewish army, is taken from its actual use as Judah's surname.


The revolt itself involved many individual battles, in which the Macabean forces gained infamy among the Syrian army for their use of guerrilla tactics. After the victory, the Macabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Macabee as high priest. A large Syrian army was sent to quash the revolt, but returned to Syria on the death of Antiochus IV. Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Syrian affairs, agreed to a political compromise that restored religious freedom.


The story of a powerful culture such as Hellenism and its struggle with Judaism is a story for all time and all generations The “Kulturkamph” (struggle of cultures) that ensues and the subsequent “miracle of the few against the many, the strong against the weak” is the theme of our discussion. Here we have the opportunity to relate to the symbolic meaning of the “Chanukiah” and the way in which Chanukah is celebrated today as well.


The issues that arise in this period and at this site, foreshadow many future discussions during this period and continue as issues of our own day. Chanukah and dedication to Jewish continuity, are a key catalyst for this discussion.


The victory of preserving Jewish culture in an enormously enticing environment of Hellenistic culture was the primary victory of Chanukah. Each candle is a symbol of Jewish pride and appreciation of our own inner Jewish flame.


Have you ever considered experiencing this narrative on the very site of Modiin where the struggle began? Discussing this story "on site" kindles the inner Jewish light and pride that we all need for our Jewish souls.


To book a Celebration Tour to Israel, where the sites and sounds of our culture, history and biblical narrative come alive, click here.