Capernum is the place to come when you want to see how cultures borrow from each other. It’s a confusing place. Forunately we can make some sense of it while we sit in the shade under the large shade-giving trees that grow next to the sites ancient synagogue.
Back in the days of Jesus this place was a mid-sized fishing town of some 1500 people. Certainly large enough to merit having it’s own synagogue. In that time synagogues were used as places of congregation by the community, places to learn and make decisions. A couple of generations later, after the destruction of the great Temple in Jerusalem they would begin to function as places of worship to the God of Israel, since the option of making pilgrimage to the Temple was no longer a possibility.
Here look at how the Jews of the Byzantine era decorated their synagogue, what evoked their pride. When we enter the synagogue do we feel like we’ve been in this type of building before? Even if we’ve never been in a synagogue before, it seems familiar to us. Why?
We pass by the remnants of original neighborhoods from 2000 years ago and arrive at the original home of St. Peter, where Jesus lived during his ministry. It sits under the modern church. Consider this small space and learn about why it had to be so small, then how it was enlarged.
Before leaving look at the statue of St. Peter and try to identify the symbols that confirm for us that the figure is indeed Peter.