first solitude in the wilderness (Luke 1:80) and where he first practiced his baptism procedures. Among the site’s additional findings are the largest ritual bathing pool ever unearthed in the Jerusalem area and installations connected to early baptism procedures, including a unique foot-anointing stone. Just off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road, the Biblical Garden, located on Moshav Yad Hashmona, a collective settlement populated by Finnish Christians and Messianic Jews, is a general representation of a village from the period of the Bible, from Joshua and until the Second Temple era. It includes reconstructions of a watchtower, threshing floor, wine presses, olive presses, a rock-hewn burial tomb that contains ancient sarcophagi and ossuaries, a mikveh (ritual immersion pool), and more, to help visitors visualize how life was lived by the Jews of biblical times, as an aid to helping them interpret biblical texts. JAFFA Closer to Tel Aviv, the ancient port of Jaffa - for centuries the pilgrimage gateway to the Holy Land - is mentioned in both the Old and New Testament in numerous contexts.
of early Christianity in the Land of Israel. However, for most Christians, what is arguably the most significant reference to Jaffa is the Vision of St. Peter (Acts 10:1-48). As it is written (10-15): “And he [Simon Peter] became very hungry and would have eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance. And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth. Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him. Rise, Peter; kill and eat. And the voice spake unto him again a second time. What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” This vision, central to the universality of the Christian gospel, took place in Jaffa on the roof of the house of Simon the Tanner, which for the past 800 years has been the focus of pilgrimage visits to the Holy Land, but which is closed to the public. Also of interest to Christians visiting the area is the grave of Tabitha (Dorcas), close by the Tel Aviv Botanic Garden, not far away. As it is written in Acts 9, upon the death of Tabitha, a woman known far and wide for her charitable works, Peter was summoned to Jaffa from Lydda (modern-day Lod). “... Peter... kneeled down, and prayed: and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise.
It was used as a port by both King Solomon and King Herod and it was from Jaffa that the Prophet Jonah attempted to flee from God, rather than upbraid the residents of Tarshish. (Jonah, 1:17). A visitor’s center in Old Jaffa’s center, which leads down to the port, relates Jaffa’s checkered history, including its role in the history
And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.” (40-24)
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