SAFED

view of Safed, courtesy, Chabad.org

Safed is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of roughly 2,953 feet, Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 36,094.

Although not mentioned in the Bible, during the time of Joshua, the site of Safed was allotted to the Israelite tribe of Naphtali. It became the burial place of both, the Prophet Hosea, the monument of which, was said to have been built by the Karaite Jews of Damascus in the fifteenth century, and Benaiah ben Joiadah a commander in the army of King David. It has been suggested that Jesus' statement "a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden" may have referred to Safed. According to historians and archaeologists, Safed was identified with Sepph, a fortified town in the Upper Galilee mentioned in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus during the Judean wars against Rome. The Jerusalem Talmud mentions Safed as one of five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the New Moon and festivals during the Second Temple period. During the Talmudic period, many scholars resided in the town, namely Yosi ben Yokrat whose burial place became one of the major sites of pilgrimage. Two liturgical poems for the Ninth of Av by Eleazar Kallir, Eikhah Yashevah and Zekhor Eikhah, refer to Safed as a place where the priestly families Jakim and Pashhur settled after the destruction of the Temple. Jews still lived in Safed in the first half of the 11^th century as attested by documents in the Cairo Genizah. One document composed in 1034, mentions a transaction made in Tiberias several years before by a certain Jew, Musa ben Hiba ben Salmun "al-Safati" (of Safed). Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the city in 1170/71, stated that no Jews lived there. But Samuel ben Samson, who visited the town in 1210, mentions the existence of a Jewish community of at least fifty. He also noted that two Muslims guarded and maintained the cave tomb of Rabbi Hanina ben Horqano. By the 1220s, a community was definitely revived under Mamluk protection; R. Zadok, head of an academy of the gaon Jacob, was its most prominent member. In 1289 Moses b. Judah ha-Kohen, chief rabbi of Safed, accompanied by his assessors, went to Tiberias, and pronounced over the tomb of Maimonides an anathema on all who should condemn his writings. In 1481 the Jewish community of Safed and of the villages in its vicinity flourished under the protection of the Mamluk governors. Ten years later, Perez Colombo became Safed’s Chief Rabbi. He was so poorly paid that he was obliged to carry on a grocery business; but in the following year the community was reorganized by Joseph Saragossi who had arrived from Spain. That same year, the community was greatly strengthened by an influx of Jewish refugees from Spain. The Spanish Jews built a number of synagogues in the town, one of which, was named after Isaac Aboab, "the last gaon of Castile". It housed the "Sefer Aboab" Torah scroll that was attributed to him. In 1495 the Jews of Safed were reported as trading in spices, cheese, oil, vegetables, and fruits.  

In 1516/17, the Ottoman Empire conquered the whole of the Land of Israel. Due to rumors that Selim, the Ottoman Sultan, was slain by the Mamluks, a local Arab revolt broke out against the newly-appointed Ottoman governor, which resulted in wide-scale killings, many of which targeted the city's Jews, who were viewed as sympathizers of the Ottomans. But after stability was reestablished, Safed experienced a new era of growth and prosperity. Jews established looms for wool and textile production, whose products competed with those of Venice. In addition the Jews of Safed traded in the local produce of Galilee: honey, silk, and spices – this in addition to the traditional products traded under the Mamluks (as mentioned above). They also received both Jewish and gentile pilgrims in their homes. Safed became known as one of the Four Holy Cities of Judaism. In 1522 R. Moses Basola found 300 Jewish families in Safed, composed of many communities. The Jewish quarters were all situated west of the fortress. Each quarter was named for the place of origin of its inhabitants: Purtuqal (Portugal), Qurtubah (Cordoba), Qastiliyah (Castille), Magharibah (northwestern Africa), Araghun wa'Qatalan (Aragon and Catalonia), Majar (Hungary), Puliah (Apulia), Qalabriyah (Calabria), Sibiliyah (Seville), Taliyan (Italian), Alaman (German), and Musta'rib (the indigenous Palestinians). There was also a Samaritan community (also indigenous Palestinians). Among the prominent leaders of the community in this period were R. Jacob (i) Berab, who tried to reestablish the Sanhedrin and renew rabbinical ordination (semikhah), R. Joseph Caro, the author of the Shulḥan Arukh, his contemporary R. Moses Trani, the Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, and Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, composer of the Sabbath hymn "Lecha Dodi". From their teachings, Safed became the center of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. The leading kabbalist R. Isaac Luria lived in Safed and his important disciple R. Ḥayyim Vital resided there for some time. The mikveh and synagogue of Isaac Luria still exists. In 1563 the brothers Ashkenazi who came from Poland, set up the first printing press in the town; it was not only the first one in the Land of Israel but also the first in the Orient outside of Turkey. The fortunes of the Safed Jews began to change for the worst about a decade later. There were more than 7,000 Jewish families in Safed in 1576 when Sultan Murad III issued an edict for the forced deportation of 1,000 wealthy families among the Jews to Cyprus to boost the island's economy. There is no evidence that the edict, or a second one issued the following year for the removal of 500 families, was enforced. With the gradual decline in the quality of Turkish rule in the 17^th century, the prosperity of the Jewish community also began to decline. The material decline did not immediately influence the spiritual level of the community. In spite of high taxes and 1,200 poor living on charity, there were 300 rabbinical scholars, 18 schools, 21 synagogues and a large yeshivah with 100 pupils, and 20 teachers. In c. 1625, the orientalist Quaresmius spoke of Safed being inhabited "chiefly by Hebrews, who had their synagogues and schools, and for whose sustenance contributions were made by the Jews in other parts of the world." The Safed Jews had suffered from raids and plundering by the Druze under Mulhim ibn Yunus, nephew of Fakhr al-Din as a consequence of the wars breaking out in the Lebanon between the Druze and Ottoman forces. The majority of Jews fled the town. Five years later, Fakhr al-Din was routed by the Ottoman governor of Damascus, Mulhim abandoned Safed, and some of its Jewish residents returned. But in 1656, the Druze again attacked the Jews of Safed as a consequence of power struggles between the heirs of Fakhr al-Din which included Mulhim. In 1660, in the turmoil following the death of Mulhim, the Druze destroyed Safed with only a few of the former Jewish residents returning to the city by 1662. Toward the end of the century the community declined rapidly – in 1695/96 only 20 Jews paid the poll tax. An epidemic decimated the community in 1747 and an earthquake in 1759 killed 190 Jews. After the disaster the survivors began to leave the town; by 1764 there were only 50 Sephardi families in Safed. But in 1776 Safed Jewry increased due to the arrival of Jews from the Russian Empire, and five years later two Russian rabbis, Löb Santower and Uriah of Wilna, brought there a number of families from Volhynia, Podolia, and the Ukraine, the consuls of Russia and Austria taking these Jews under their protection. In 1778 over 300 Ḥasidim, disciples of R. Israel b. Eliezer Ba'al Shem Tov, settled in Safed; they were led by R. Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk. The disciples of Elijah, the Gaon of Vilna, who were opponents of the Ḥasidim, came in 1810, led by R. Israel b. Samuel of Shklov.

Warfare among Bedouin tribes and epidemics in 1812–14, caused another exodus of Jews, mainly to Jerusalem and the villages in Galilee. In 1820, following Acre Governor Abdullah Pasha's order to kill his Jewish vizier Haim Farhi, who had previously served under Ahmed al Jazzar and Sulayman, many of the Safed Jews were promptly imprisoned being accused of tax evasion under the concealment of Farhi; they were released upon payment of a ransom. The resulting war (1822-23) between Abdullah Pasha and the influential brothers of Farhi residing in Constantinople and Damascus, prompted Jewish flight from Safed and the Galilee in general. The Egyptian forces of Muhammad Ali wrested control of the Levant from the Ottomans in 1831 and in the same year many Jews who had fled the Galilee, including Safed, returned as a result of Muhammad Ali's liberal policies toward Jews. In 1832 the printer Israel Bak of Berdichev settled in Safed and established a printing and publishing business. In 1833, at the approach of Ibrahim Pasha, the Jewish quarter was plundered by the Druze tribesmen. Many escaped to the suburbs. The following year it was again pillaged, this time by Arabs, the persecution lasting thirty-three days, and causing damage estimated to be about 135,250 piasters. However, when Ibrahim Pasha returned, he imposed an indemnity on the surrounding villages, and repaid the Jews 7 per cent of their losses. On Jan. 1, 1837, more than 4,000 Jews were killed by an earthquake, the greater number of them being buried alive in their dwellings. Since the earthquake, the fortunes of Safed actually took a turn for the better. The city’s houses and synagogues were rebuilt by Sir Moses Montefiore, who visited the city seven times between 1837 and 1875, and by the philanthropist and community activist Isaac Vita of Trieste. Foreign diplomatic missions were established in the city and the Jewish Abu family acted as consular agents of France whose position was hereditary. In 1847, in spite of the plague raging again in the holy city, the country's administration stabilized under the Turkish sultan ʿAbdul Majīd. Some of the former Jewish inhabitants returned and new immigrants arrived from Persia, Morocco, and Algeria. In 1864, the printing industry was reestablished by Israel Dov Beer and by 1895, for the first time in 300 years, the Jews formed a majority of the city’s population. At the end of the century Rabbi Meyer Taubenhaus founded a weaving shop to provide employment for Jewish workers, and also opened a soup kitchen for the poor. The first Jewish kindergarten was opened on his initiative in 1906 with the support of B'nai B'rith; in 1910 it was enlarged to become a modern elementary school.

By 1905, Isaac Abu acted as consular agent of France while Avraham Cohen Ajami was consular agent of Persia. The initiative for the changeover to productive work influenced groups of Jews from Safed to attempt agricultural settlement at Gei Oni (later Rosh Pinnah) and at Benei Yehudah on the Golan. Workshops, mostly for local consumption (e.g., bakeries), were opened in the Jewish quarter, but the majority of the community remained dependent on ḥalukkah. In 1913 Barukh Barzel and his partners opened a Hebrew press called "Defus ha-Galil" with some 20 books being printed up to 1926.

During World War I the Safed community was cut off from its sources of support in Europe, and its Jewish population was decimated by hunger and disease. When the Ottomans were defeated by the British at the end of the war, Safed came under British rule. In 1929, the city’s Arab population, instigated by the nationalists, assaulted the Jewish quarter and killed several of the inhabitants resulting in some of the Jewish neighborhoods being ethnically cleansed. The situation stagnated thereafter. Safed was included in the part of Palestine allocated for the proposed Jewish state under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. By the time of Israel's War of Independence (1948), less than 2,000 of the city’s 12,000 inhabitants were Jews, living in the narrow quarter on the northern and northwestern slope of Safed Hill. When the British evacuated the town, they permitted Arab forces (estimated at 4,000–4,500 men, including detachments of the Iraqi and Lebanese armies) to occupy the two large police buildings in key positions, thereby sealing off the Jewish quarter. On May 1, 1948, a Palmaḥ force, the Yiftach Brigade, stationed at the local “Bussel House”, advanced from positions on Mount Canaan and Biriyyah, occupied the Arab villages of Biriyyah and Ein Zeitun, and from there entered the Jewish quarter by hidden paths, bringing the number of its defenders from about 60 to 222. On May 10–11, 1948, the defenders launched attacks on the Arab positions and captured them as well as the Meẓudah ("fortress") on top of Safed Hill. The entire Arab population and armed forces fled. After the war, mainly new immigrants from different countries settled in Safed. The town's economy was based principally on branches of tourism, recreation, and industry. In the 1950s and 1960s, Safed was known as Israel's art capital. An artists' colony became a hub of creativity that drew artists from around the country, among them Yitzhak Frenkel, Yosl Bergner, Moshe Castel, Menachem Shemi, Shimshon Holzman and Rolly Sheffer. In honor of the opening of the Glitzenstein Art Museum in 1953, the artist Mane Katz donated eight of his paintings to the city. In the 1960s, Safed was home to the country's top nightclubs, hosting the debut performances of Naomi Shemer, Aris San, and other singers. Nowadays, Safed has been hailed as the klezmer capital of the world, hosting an annual Klezmer Festival that attracts top musicians from around the globe. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the town accepted thousands of Russian and Ethiopian Jewish immigrants. 

Unfortunately, Safed has not escaped Arab terrorism over the years. In 1974, 25 Israeli Jews (mainly school children) from Safed, were killed in the Ma'alot massacre committed by Arab terrorists. In July 2006, "Katyusha" rockets fired by Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon hit Safed, killing one man and injuring others. Many residents fled the town. 

Beginning in the 1980s, Safed saw important developments in the field of education. The Livnot U'Lehibanot program, established in 1980, provides an open, non-denominational atmosphere for young Jewish adults that combines volunteering, hiking and study with exploring Jewish heritage. Sharei Bina is a program for women who have just finished high school and want to study in a seminary in Safed for one year learning Jewish spirituality, the shekhinah, and other Kabbalistic rituals. Beginning in 2011, the Safed Academic College began a program designed specifically for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Judaism with separate classes for male and female students. This would allow haredi women living in the Upper Galilee access to higher education, while still maintaining strict religious practice.  In October 2011, Israel's fifth medical school opened in Safed, housed in a renovated historic building in the center of town that was once a branch of Hadassah Hospital. The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, opened as an extension of Bar-Ilan University, was created to train physicians in the Upper Galilee region. 

Other sites in Safed include: several museums and galleries that function in the historic homes of major Israeli artists such as the Frenkel Frenel Museum, Beit Castel gallery, Beit Hameiri museum documenting Safed's Jewish community over the past 200 years, and the Museum of the Art of Printing displaying the first Hebrew printing press. Safed still contains several old synagogues (aside from Isaac Luria’s synagogue and that of Aboab), all of which, were rebuilt after the 1837 earthquake. Among them are: a smaller synagogue of Luria which belongs to the Ashkenazim, the Synagogue of Rabbi Yossi haBannai, and the Synagogue of Rabbi Yosef Caro. The Ashkenazim also have a library containing a large collection of modern Hebrew works, while the Sephardic Jews possess two public libraries well supplied with rabbinical works, as well as a private library named after Ḥayyim Sethon.