The long rectangular floor of the basilica style building stretches before us, the entire surface covered with mosaics. E.The mosaic is now fully covered by a protective shelter, so we must imagine the columns rising up from their bases to support the second story and wooden roof above. Were they suspended too?Īkeidah section (detail), mosaic Bet-Alpha Synagogue, Israel, 6th century C. We walk into the ruins of the synagogue at Bet-Alpha in the southern Galilee and wonder what those Jews thought so long ago. Whether on the streets of Jerusalem or the streets of New York, we are all suspended between the certainties of normal life before and the moment after terror somehow touched us. Our world is wracked with horror, aghast at wanton mass murder as much as by the heartless celebration of our enemies. It is our forefather Isaac, depicted as a small lad with his hands bound, and in some way it is all of us. E.A figure in the primitive mosaic is depicted suspended in mid-air, seeming to flee his father’s grasp and yet hovering dangerously close to an all consuming fire. Akeidah section, mosaic Bet-Alpha Synagogue, Israel, 6th century C.

Binding of isaac era walk