Often overlooked as a provincial town, Tiberias holds a unique and pivotal role in Jewish history. Here, the Jerusalem Talmud, one of the two foundational texts of Jewish law alongside the Babylonian Talmud, was finalised. This monumental achievement firmly establishes Tiberias as a centre of Jewish scholarship, a fact that may surprise many.
The city was also the birthplace of a unique system of vocalisation—symbols added to the Hebrew alphabet to indicate vowel sounds. This innovation, which profoundly influenced the reading and preservation of Hebrew texts, is a testament to Tiberias' contribution to Jewish culture. The artist David Payne pays homage to this linguistic heritage with his whimsical artwork, depicting characters adorned with dots and lines symbolising the vocalisation marks.
A stroll along the Tiberias promenade, a mere hour-long, is a journey through time. It's a place where the lives of Prague and Vitebsk rabbis intersect with the legacies of Israeli generals and politicians. Here, the figures of Roman rulers, Jewish sages, medieval knights, and Muslim merchants, a diverse ensemble of history, come to life.
Initially, it may appear as a modest waterfront in a small lakeside town. However, it harbours numerous unexpected twists of history, stories that are now known to only a few, offering a surprising peek into the layered past of this remarkable city.
