Is It or Isn’t It—A Synagogue?

Israeli archaeologist Ehud Netzer claims he has found the oldest synagogue building in the Biblical Land of Israel, near Jericho. Not everyone agrees that it’s a synagogue, however.

Meanwhile, Italian excavators Virgilio Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda say they have found a synagogue about as old near the Sea of Galilee, at Migdal (sometimes called Magdala). Netzer, however, doesn’t think the Migdal building is a synagogue at all.

We’ll present the evidence and let you decide.