Known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah is a national memorial day in Israel. The full name of the holiday is Yom HaShoah Ve-Hagevurah, translated as the “Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism.” The day was selected in a resolution passed by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on April 12, 1951. Yom HaShoah...Read More

The story of the exodus from Egypt is ultimately a celebration of freedom, but it is also a powerful metaphor that is appreciated not only by Jews, but by Christians as well. The festival of Pesach, known as Passover, holds multiple layers of meaning, particularly in Israel. Within the Jewish faith, Pesach marks the Israelites’...Read More

Mosaic found in the ruins of a prayer hall dating back to third century A.D., according to Israel Antiquities Authority. The earliest mosaic ever dedicated to Jesus might soon be excavated and eventually become a new tourist site, according to a Times of Israel report on Monday. The mosaic  – discovered inside the ruins of...Read More

On July 10–15, 2022, join the staff of Tel Shimron Excavations for a summer archaeological dig where you will not only be on the front lines of a hands-on project in the land of the Bible, but you will also have access to top experts and researchers while you gain a deeper understanding of the...Read More

So close, and yet so far away. That is how Moses might have felt after God showed him the Promised Land his descendants would inherit, and then discovered he would never enter it himself (Deuteronomy 34:1–4). That mountain where Moses could see the Promised Land but was not permitted to cross over into it over...Read More

Celebrated annually throughout Jewish communities around the world, Purim is one of the most joyous holidays in the Jewish calendar. Meaning “lots,”—as in to draw lots or straws—in ancient Persian, Purim commemorates the Jewish liberation from Haman, who was prime minister to King Ahasuerus, ruler of the Persian Empire. This is the story in the...Read More

The ancient Ruins of Ephesus may have been removed from the 7 Wonders of the World list back in the mid ’70s, but that doesn’t make this famous historical and architectural site, located in what is now present-day Western Turkey, any less wonderful. Legend has it that the city of Ephesus was founded in the 11th...Read More

Where can you visit 26 museums within a space of 26 miles that contain roughly 70,000 exhibits? That would be the Vatican Museums in Vatican City. Founded by Pope Julius II in the 16th century, this world-renowned group of art and Christian museums houses the most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world, including...Read More

In 1986, after a series of dry winters caused the waters of the Sea of Galilee to recede, two fishermen brothers from Nof Ginosar discovered the hull of a first-century ancient boat mired in the mud of the lakebed. Some might say it was meant to be found. Either way, it was one of the...Read More

There are many stories which connect to the walls of Jerusalem, but it is the story of its gates which holds particular significance. And while the gates in biblical times were in slightly different locations, the present gates offer passage into the four quarters of the city are part of walls which were built in...Read More