It’s a city whose official name is Tel Aviv-Jaffa. The emblem of this city is a lighthouse and a gate, symbols of the city’s historic role as the gateway from the sea to Israel.
Jaffa ("Yafeh" in Hebrew means "beautiful") is mentioned as a port in the Book of Jonah, which is read on Yom Kippur. Jews began returning to this port in 1840 and subsequent immigration led to the development of colonies in the area.
The climax of this growth was the establishment in 1908 of Tel Aviv, the major urban center of modern Israel. Tel Aviv was the name of a city in Babylon where exiles from Israel had gathered (Ezek. 3:15).
The two cities of Tel Aviv and Jaffa official merged in 1950 into one large city, which has developed into a major metropolis.
