The discovery of a rural synagogue in Galilee dating from the 1st century lends support for the New Testament accounts of Jesus teaching in synagogues. For years scholars have doubted those accounts since it was hard to believe that a Jewish rabbi would allow an itinerate teacher like Jesus to come in an take over a regular worship service.
But the discovery demonstrates that the local rural synagogues were used for community meetings and for Torah readings and study. Here’s the story from the Christian Post:
Motti Aviam, a senior researcher at the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, explained in a statement the significance of the Tel Rechesh excavation find.
“This is the first synagogue discovered in the rural part of the Galilee and it confirms historical information we have about the New Testament, which says that Jesus preached at synagogues in Galilean villages,”
explained Aviam, as reported by JNS.
Haaretz noted that while there have been seven other synagogues from the Second Temple period discovered before, the one at Tel Rechesh is the first to be found in a rural instead of urban setting.
“Inscriptions and historical sources show that the synagogues of the period were used for meetings, Torah readings and study, rather than worship. They had neither Torah ark nor regular prayer services,”
Response: Notice that it is Jewish scholars that are confirming the NT record. An important distinction.