Emerging from the ashes of the Tabgha Church a solidarity project supported by Rabbis and called “Restoring Friendship” aims to raise funds to rebuild the most damaged areas of the Church as well as restore friendship between Jews and Christians.

Emerging from the ashes of the Tabgha Church a solidarity project supported by Rabbis and called “Restoring Friendship” aims to raise funds to rebuild the most damaged areas of the Church as well as restore friendship between Jews and Christians.

Last June, a fire believed to have been started by Jewish extremists, badly damaged Tabhga Church on the Sea of Galilee built on the site where Christian tradition holds that Jesus performed the miracle of feeding five thousand people with two fish and five loaves of bread.

Among the buildings destroyed in Tabgha is the encounter center, the friendship center, where monks met with people of all faiths and nationalities. 

Pointing out that the Benedictine monks who are the custodians of the Church have a deep and principled respect for Judaism, the “Restoring Friendship” project organizers say they wish to give symbolic expression to rebuilding friendship where hatred led to burning.

Supported by Rabbis across Israel, by the Elijah Institute of Jerusalem, by the Speaker of the Knesset and by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the project also aims to restore friendship between Jews and Christians through what will be studied and disseminated throughout the campaign, through prizes given, through relationships formed, and through ongoing activities for spreading and deepening this spirit of friendship during the campaign and beyond it.

Vatican Radio