Safed (Tzfat) is a city whose history radiates from within its walls. The old blue color painted on the streets is a testimony to the mysterious city that harbors unrevealed secrets. Artists and tourists, pilgrims and locals are all swept by it, hoping to learn its secrets. However, above all, rabbis and Torah students, the great men of Israel, have passed through Safed: compiler of the Shulchan Aruch, R’ Joseph Karo; famed Kabbalist Ha’Ari Hakadosh and his disciples; HaAlshich Hakadosh; R’ Shlomo Alkabetz (writer of the liturgical song Lecha Dodi). These giants of spirit and mind were drawn to this unique city, studied the Torah and flourished.
Different synagogues peer through the alleyways, to each its own unique tale. The Abuhav synagogue tells the story of an ancient book of Torah that protected the place; the mere sight of the walls at the synagogue of R’ Dov of Avritch recounts the story of the great earthquake that took the city: these are only a portion of the places that tell the tale of this special spiritual city.
One cannot ignore the city’s military history: in the heart of the city stands a tall citadel that recounts Jewish heroism and the miracle of few vs. many, not in Chanukah of 2,000 years ago, but of the War of Independence, only 69 years ago, when a handful of Jewish men and women drove away the local Arabs who tried to kill them and outnumbered them tenfold. The citadel is a testimony to the strategic importance of Safed. It is mentioned in the writings of Josephus Flavius, famous Gemara-era historian, also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu.
Walking atop the Safed pavement, my eyes gaze forward to the breathtaking view ahead: the Galilee in all of its grandeur, mountains and valleys of green, a truly one-of-a-kind land. Above all this beauty towers Mt. Meron, the burial grounds of R’ Shimon Bar Yochai, the very one who had hidden with his son R’ Elazar in a cave in Peki’in for 13 years; the very one who sacrificed his life for the Torah.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews gather here each year on Lag Ba’Omer, and each year a parade from Safed arrives with a book of Torah, a tradition dating back to Lag Ba’Omer of 1833 when the local Jews had gifted Rabbi Shmuel Abu a book of Torah in gratitude of his ceaseless efforts, spiritual status and diplomatic ties employed in developing the Galilee region.
I walk on through the alleyways of Safed, the Artist Quarter to my right. Artists from the world over gather here to bask in Safed’s unique art. I peer through a window displaying a variety of menorahs in different colors and designs. Further down the alleyway stands an antique shop with pottery, old menorahs, shofars and postcards, all for sale. To my left, a painter is painting the city of Safed. His works are magical, harboring the secrets of the city. By the shofars stands a one-of-a-kind craftsman, inscribing scripture within a painting; one can find “Eshet Chayil” in a painting of candles, “Song of Songs” in miniature writing inside a magical drawing. One more artist cannot go unmentioned—Daniel the potter, creating real, old-time pottery. How does he do it? I ask myself.
Further down past the Artist Quarter is the house of R’ Shmuel Eliyahu, shlita, Safed’s rabbi, son of the Rishon Lezion wise man Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, z”l. His home is located directly at the center of the Old City, a testimony to his importance among the city’s residents. A group of tourists passes me by, and their guide explains, in their language, about the month of Elul, the first letters of which in Hebrew spell out “Ani Ledodi VeDodi Li—I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine,” a month of mercy and forgiveness. The guide blows the shofar and the walls tremble. The shofar has a familiar yet mysterious sound. As a child, I feared it; today I tremble, but not in fear.
At the end of my walk, I am beyond the alleyways, but feel as though I had not fully left. I cross the city downward to the Safed marketplace, looking back at the old city from which I came and the new city to which I am headed. I walk on toward The High Yeshiva of Safed, whose graduates go on to become rabbis throughout Israel. In addition they run gemachim, institutions for the benefit of the less fortunate.
The head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Shay Levi, shlita, is kind and welcoming, and his studious learning reveals a true and penetrating Torah, honed and clear.
I invite you to experience Safed and the Galilee, take in the magical environment that surrounds Safed, take in the yeshiva and its students, walk the alleys and feel the experience that is truly, uniquely Safed.
To schedule a tour of the Old City and a visit to the yeshiva, please contact us by email at [email protected].
By Odeleya Jacobs
