Beit Alpha

Beit Alpha is a kibbutz founded in 1922 in the Northern District of Israel. It was the first to use robotic technology for milking. There in the kibbutz synagogue from the Byzantine era mosaics represent the sacrifice of Isaac and the zodiac signs floor. The mosaics were made by the Jewish artist Janina Marianos and her son.

Developed on the floor of the ancient synagogue of Beit Alpha, the mosaics consists of three parts; the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Hebrew calendar and the Temple of Jerusalem. Within Judaism, both the sacrifice of Isaac as the Temple of Jerusalem are important because of their symbolic meaning and both are in their turn indicators of turning points in the history of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith: the sacrifice of Isaac is symbolic of the Abraham unconditional loyalty to the Creator and the representation of the Temple of Jerusalem, it is symbolic of the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of Israel and humanity as a whole.

The first scene is consonant with the origins of the Jewish faith; the second refers to its future. Between the two scenes is the Hebrew calendar that symbolizes the present time. In the latter composition, solar figure driving a chariot does not represent God, but is an allegorical figure representing its absolute power over the cosmic order.