From a distance of 1700 years from the time that the last stone was laid on the floor of a Beis Knesses in a street in Beit Shean, suddenly signs of the past came to new life in the Beis Medrash leHalacha in the Settlements, Emunas Ish, in Jerusalem. A mosaic, one of the most significant findings unearthed in archaeological excavations in Israel to date, earned a place of honor in the aforesaid Beis Medrash leHalacha In The Settlements and became a silent museum exhibit of the vibrant parts of this halachic institute.
The inscription, in whose center there figures the Beraissa of boundaries, is a unique find in the Jewish world. And whereas in most ancient synagogues we find geometric shapes or drawings, in the shul here they chose to decorate the mosaic floor with a different theme composing an altogether certified, clear-cut halacha.
The text spreads over 3 meters by 4.3 meters, encompassing 29 lines and 365 words, creating, in effect, 'a huge halachic announcement' spread out before the feet of the worshipers, dealing with fruits and vegetables and which have halachic implications in that area during the Shmittah year.
The text delineates the borders of Eretz Yisroel regarding those mitzvos relating to the land. It guides the residents of the area, the agricultural folk of the area regarding which produce they are permitted to buy without the prohibition of tevel, non-tithed fruits and vegetables.
The significance is riveting. A Jew who frequented this shul many, many years ago, did not come merely to pray but met up with a practical guide for observing those mitzvos applicable to the land, both for the farmer and the consumer. It testifies that observing those particular mitzvos was a burning public issue which required very clear-cut guidelines in the communal life, presented very essentially and practically.
One of the rabbonim of the aforesaid Beis Medrash, delineated to us very excitedly, "Look here! This text is the most ancient found amongst the Beraissos that Chazal taught. It is a living encounter with the teachings of the Jerusalemite Sages: a discovery such as this breathes new life in the hearts of the scholars, and a very special feeling of life and energy.
"When we see, before our very eyes those letters engraved in the heart of Beis She'an dating back hundreds of years, words which almost exactly parallel those very words which we study in the Talmud Yerushalmi before us, the amalgamation creating a strong sense of direct closeness to the subjects and fine halachic points which concern us daily."
And he added, "When you stand in the presence of this mosaic, you cannot help feeling how the chain of generations of Torah scholars in Eretz Yisroel continues to throb from them all the way to this very time, with the same voice and the same devotion."
