Editor’s note: I’ve been to Tzfat twice, although not since I was much younger. My tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) is from here, and is one of my most valued possessions. For Jews, or for those who seek to learn more about Judaism, it is an amazing place to visit. For more of Rabbi Sam Spector’s amazing adventures all over the world, make sure to click here to visit his index page.

As not only a Jew, but a rabbi, Israel is an incredibly special place for me. It is the only place outside of the United States where I truly feel that when I am there, I am home. Whether I am in the most sacred city in the world, Jerusalem, where I have spent nearly a couple years of my life, sipping a coffee in one of Tel Aviv’s supreme cafes, or hanging out on a beach in one of the coastal towns of Ashdod, Herzilya, Netanya, Caesarea, or Nahariya, when I am in Israel, I am happy. While we often hear in news stories on the Middle East about various holy cities in Islam, few people know that there are actually holy cities, four to be exact, in Judaism. The first, as I am sure everyone would guess, is Jerusalem. The second holy city is Hebron, a hotly contested city in the West Bank or Judea and Samaria (name based on your political views), where the tomb of the patriarchs and matriarchs of Judaism is. The third holy city in Judaism is the town of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, where so much of the Talmud and Jewish learning took place, and which is the burial ground of many of the great sages of Judaism. However, it is the fourth holy city of Judaism that is my favorite. The name of the town can be a bit confusing, as I see a variation of spellings on the inconsistent Israeli highway signs, among them: Safed, Tsfat, Zefat, and the one that I think is the most phonetically correct, Tzfat. It was in this town that the Jewish mystical movement of Kabbalism was developed in the 16th century by those who had fled the Iberian Peninsula during the Inquisition. This movement teaches about actually experiencing God and holiness in the world around us, especially in nature. Through this movement, the Friday night Sabbath service, known as Kabbalat Shabbat, was created, with the town being the place of origin of the famous Jewish liturgy Lecha Dodi and Shalom Aleichem, thanks to the city receiving the first Hebrew printing press in the 16th century.

Tzfat is about a 3 hour bus ride north of Jerusalem, and is the highest elevated city in Israel at about 2800 feet above sea level, with a population of 42,000 individuals. It is surrounded by forests and mountains, providing outstanding nature and hiking, as well as gorgeous sunsets. In Kabbalism, blue is considered to be the color of heaven, and similar to the famous Moroccan city of Chefchaouen, the city is painted this color amidst walls and ground covered in Jerusalem stone. Much like Jerusalem, Tzfat has a feeling of holiness and antiquity to it when walking through, as the city dates back to 1500 BCE with evidence still visible of its ancient roots. In the city, you can find a mikveh (a Jewish bath for ritual cleansing) that was used by the 15th century Kabbalist founder Isaac Luria. This mikveh is located inside of a cave and is for Jewish men only (there is another mikveh for women), where each day, hundreds of men take turns immersing nude in the mikveh to get a sense of the spirituality that comes with Tzfat (it is a pretty cool experience even if it means getting over being modest for a minute). Right outside of Tzfat in Meron is the tomb of Shimon Bar Yochai (2nd century CE), which is a place of pilgrimage for Kabbalists, especially on the holiday of Lag BaOmer in May, and is the most visited pilgrimage site for Jews after the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Elsewhere in Tzfat there is a 12th century Mamluk citadel as well as a 13th century mosque, which still stands protected despite it not being in use.

The mosque speaks to a challenging part of Tzfat’s history. Today, Tzfat is almost entirely ultra-Orthodox Jewish and is a center for Jewish learning. As a result, it is wise to dress modestly and not use phones or electronics on the Sabbath. Some hostels in Tzfat will even let you stay for free or at a discounted rate in exchange for attending their Torah studies, but will not permit cohabitation of people of the opposite sex who are not married. However, Tzfat was not always like this, and a century ago was approximately half Jewish and half Arab. In fact, Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen), the President of the Palestinian Authority for the past two decades, was born in Tzfat. While some towns with such demographics were able to coexist, this was not the case for Tzfat, where to this day, you can see shrapnel scars in the buildings from the war. What happened is a matter of the debate we hear all too often when describing what Israelis call the War of Independence and what the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba (Catastrophe). According to Arabs, they were forcibly expelled from Tzfat, while according to the typical Zionist narrative, the Arabs fled in anticipation of an Arab victory, after which they planned to come back. The truth, I have typically found, is often somewhere in the middle. With Tzfat though, there is a very interesting story. On the promenade at the top of the hill is a cannon that stands in commemoration of the Jewish victory. According to the story, rumors were circulating in the Arab community that prominent Zionist Albert Einstein had given the Jewish armies an atomic bomb. The cannon that was fired did not actually fire any artillery but made an extraordinarily loud noise that shook the entire town as a form of psychological warfare. Almost immediately after the cannon went off, a sudden cloud burst occurred causing a rainstorm, leading the Arab population to believe that this was a nuclear rain as the result of an atomic bomb and quickly flee the town, leading to an end of the fierce fighting and the Jewish conquest of Tzfat.

The rainstorm is one of many supposed miracles to occur in Tzfat, but my favorite is the miracle of what happened in 1948 at the Ashkenazi Ari Synagogue, one of two must-visit synagogues in Tzfat. During a time when the synagogue was completely packed with worshippers, a bomb went off in the courtyard of the synagogue; however, at the exact moment that the bomb went off was a moment in the service that required worshippers to bow. Shrapnel flew through the door and lodged itself at shoulder level in the bima (the Jewish equivalent of the altar) in what would have been certain death for anyone it struck. However, since the worshippers bowed when the bomb went off, the shrapnel went over their heads and nobody was hurt. This synagogue dates back to the mid-16th century and was a place where Isaac Luria would frequently pray, and with his nickname being the Ari (Lion), the name of the synagogue pays homage to him, while Ashkenazi indicates that this was a synagogue for Eastern European Jews, though Sephardic Jews (typically from Spain or the Muslim world) use it today as well. The synagogue is particularly famous for its ark (the place the Torah scrolls are kept), made from olive wood from Galicia (modern eastern Poland), and it is both ornate and colorful.

The other must-visit synagogue in Tzfat is the Sephardic Abuhav Synagogue. In the center of the synagogue is a beautiful blue bima with six steps leading up to a platform, representing the days of the week and the sabbath. This synagogue was built at the end of the 15th century by a Spanish Jew and early Kabbalist, Isaac Abuhav. The interior of the synagogue also reflects much of the Spanish Moorish style of architecture. However, the most prominent part of the synagogue is the ceiling with beautifully painted trees and symbols. These two synagogues are among the oldest in Israel that are still in use today.

Yet, my favorite part of Tzfat is its outstanding artist colony. Religious artists flock to Tzfat, where on one winding street they sell their masterpieces. For any Judaica or special souvenirs, this is my go-to place in Israel. A few of my favorite artisan shops include the photography studio featuring the work of the late Yaacov Kaszemacher (now run by his son), the studio of Chicago Art Institute alumnus and hippie Hasid Avraham Loewenthal, who makes one-of-a-kind visual art inspired by the sounds of the shofar, the various stores selling wooden mezuzot (to go on the doorposts of Jewish homes), and a tiny little jewelry nook that specializes in opal jewelry (famous in Tzfat). There even is one distinct place in the culinary arts in this neighborhood, the Tzfat cheese shop, run by the descendants of the Persian creators of this semi-hard salty cheese who made it in Tzfat in 1840 for the first time out of sheep’s milk. Today, the cheese can be made from the milk of sheep, goat, cow, or water buffalo. Perhaps the most famous shop though in the artist colony is the Tzfat candle shop. These candles are truly works of art and easily recognizable by their many colors. Every single time I am in Tzfat, I buy candles at this store for myself and also for many others who ask me to get Shabbat, Havdallah,and Chanukah candles from there. Walking around the store, you will see unbelievable displays of chess sets and biblical narratives like Samson knocking down the Philistine temple, David beheading Goliath, and Noah’s ark, all made from candles.

While everyone knows about Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, make sure that you allow yourself more than half a day in Tzfat when you visit my favorite region of Israel, the north. Not only is there so much to see in what might be Israel’s most beautiful town, but you will definitely take home souvenirs that will become precious keepsakes. When I have led tours to Israel, the most common complaint that I get is that four hours in Tzfat was not nearly enough.

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