The Binding of Isaac in the Beit Alfa Synagogue Mosaic
Arthur L. Finkle June 22nd, 2008
If the evidence has been interpreted correctly, then it would appear that the Christian artists were making use of motifs that had originated in rabbinic teaching.
The impression that emerged from the above examples, which testified to a free exchange of artistic and religious ideas between Jews and Christians in the Byzantine era, marks a sharp contrast to the official attitudes expressed by the rabbis and theologians of the time, whose principal concern was to establish barriers between the two communities. The evidence suggests that, on the person-to-person plane, as acted out in rural villages like Beit-Alpha, interfaith relations were more casual and unselfconscious.
When all is said and done, there is a satisfying appropriateness in associating universalistic sentiments with the story of the binding of Isaac. For the Torah itself emphasizes that the ultimate reward for Abraham’s devotion is that “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
The Binding of Isaac in the Beit Alfa Synagogue Mosaic
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