Both archaeological sites we visited today, Bet Shearim (a UNESCO world heritage site) and Tzippori (Sepphoris), have rich and unique histories. What connects the two is the personage of Rabbi Yehuda haNassi (Judah the Patriarch). He was head of the Sanhedrin (which was headquartered in Bet Shearim after the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem and the failure of the Bar Kochba Revolt — and before it moved to Tzippori), key leader of the Jewish community during the Roman occupation of Judea, and compiler of the Mishnah (3rd century, CE). Bet Shearim became renowned as a great center of Torah study after Yehuda haNassi (or just “Rabbi” in the Talmud) resided there. Though he spent the last 17 years of his life and died in Tzippori, the Talmud (Ketubot 103b) says: “Rabbi was lying on his sickbed at Tzippori but a burial place was reserved for him at Bet Shearim.”

Burial cave of Rabbi Judah HaNassi in Bet Shearim.

The well-known story of his death is one of my favorite teaching stories for end-of-life work with families who may have differing opinions about keeping their loved one alive “to the end” (Talmud Ketubot 104a). Rabbi Yehuda haNassi was basically being kept alive by life support, which were the prayers of his disciples. His maidservant, realizing how he was suffering, threw an urn on the ground to interrupt the prayers and put Rabbi out of his misery. He died in that split second when his “life support” was momentarily suspended.

Because he was buried in Bet Shearim and because the Roman authorities had prohibited Jewish burial in Jerusalem, the cemetery in Bet Shearim became the “in” place of burial grounds both for those living in the land of Israel as well as for those in surrounding areas like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Lebanon, Phoenicia, and Yemen. We only entered one burial cave, but there were about 135 sarcophagi there! And there are many other burial caves that we not only didn’t visit but that haven’t even been excavated yet.

This burial cave contains about 135 sarcophagi

Well-preserved sarcophagus featuring two lions.

Ancient synagogue site in Bet Shearim. Today’s most faithful congregant is a cat. Can you spot him?

I was so happy to carry on my friend Billy’s hobby of photographing wildflowers. Red anemones.

From Bet Shearim, we travelled about 13 miles to Tzippori National Park, with remains of an ancient city and gorgeous mosaic floors. There were ruins from Roman and Byzantine periods, as well as a fortress from the Crusader period. Yehuda haNassi’s grandson is buried in Tzippori. The Sanhedrin (and Yehuda haNassi) moved there from Bet Shearim at the beginning of the 3rd century CE and the Mishna was compiled in Tzippori.

Entrance to Tzippori (Sephoris), harbinger of magnificent mosaics to come.

“The Mona Lisa of the Galilee”

Coincidentally wearing my Women’s March t-shirt and posing (my best Amazon imitation) with one of the two mosaics we saw depicting Amazon women.

Portion of the mosaic floor of the ancient synagogue in Tzippori. Can you see the menorah?

This photo captures only a part of this vast archeological site.

A beautiful view from Tzippori.

Our day concluded with a drive to the top of Mount Carmel to try the touted hummus at Hummus Berdichev (worth it!) and to catch the nighttime view from on top.

A magnificent night view from the Louis Promenade on top of Mt. Carmel. The Baha’i shrine is bottom far left, and the rotunda-topped building on the bottom right is the Baha’i archives (where over 100 different translations of the Baha’i holy book are kept). The line of lights at the very top of the photo on the other side of the (black) bay from Haifa are in Akko!