On this virtual ZOOM tour we will walk through Zippori and get a glimpse of lifestyle and region where Jesus and his family grew up.

This is an Israel Today Member’s Event. Watch recording below.

The name of the town Zippori comes from the Hebrew word tsipor which means “bird,” presumably for the birds-eye view overlooking the Galilean range. The historian Josephus described the town as “the ornament of all Galilee.”

In the times of Mary and Jesus, Zippori was the administrative capital of the Galilee, and enjoyed all the conditions needed to thrive: a central hill for protection, fertile valleys for agriculture, a main road connecting it to the cities of Acco and Tiberias, and sources of fresh water.

No wonder it was called “The Big City” of the region during the Roman period. Villagers from area would come to get services and buy goods. Among them, people from the very small and hardly notable village of Nazareth, just 5 miles away. Did Yeshua from Nazareth...