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Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue

 

 
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Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue
 
 
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The Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue is located in Safed
Safed

Safed is a city in the North District of Israel of Israel and a center for Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. At an elevation of 800 meters above sea level, Safed is the highest city in the Galilee....
, Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
. Built in the sixteenth century, the synagogue is named after Rabbi Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria

Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
, (1534-1572), who was known as the Ari (; trans:
Translation

Translation is the hermeneutics of the Meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an Dynamic and formal equivalence text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language....
 Lion), an acronym for Adoneinu Rabbeinu Isaac (our master, our rabbi, Isaac). He was a great kabbalist who arrived in Safed in 1570. A Hebrew inscription above the entrance lintel reads: "How awe-inspiring is this place, the synagogue of the Ari of blessed memory.” The synagogue is known for its colorful and ornate Holy Ark.

synagogue was established by Sephardic immigrants from Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
 who arrived in Safed during the sixteenth century.






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The Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue is located in Safed
Safed

Safed is a city in the North District of Israel of Israel and a center for Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. At an elevation of 800 meters above sea level, Safed is the highest city in the Galilee....
, Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
. Built in the sixteenth century, the synagogue is named after Rabbi Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria

Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
, (1534-1572), who was known as the Ari (; trans:
Translation

Translation is the hermeneutics of the Meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an Dynamic and formal equivalence text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language....
 Lion), an acronym for Adoneinu Rabbeinu Isaac (our master, our rabbi, Isaac). He was a great kabbalist who arrived in Safed in 1570. A Hebrew inscription above the entrance lintel reads: "How awe-inspiring is this place, the synagogue of the Ari of blessed memory.” The synagogue is known for its colorful and ornate Holy Ark.

History

The synagogue was established by Sephardic immigrants from Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
 who arrived in Safed during the sixteenth century. When Rabbi Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria

Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
 arrived he prayed in this synagogue on the eve of the Shabbat
Shabbat

Shabbat or Shabbos , is the weekly day of rest in Judaism, symbolizing the seventh day in Genesis, after the six days of creation. Though it is commonly said to be the Saturday of each week, it is observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night....
. During the service, he was accustomed to leave the synagogue with his disciples and walk to a nearby field to welcome the Sabbath. The Ari’s tradition of welcoming the Sabbath during Kabbalat Shabbat is still echoed in Jewish communities around the world during the singing of Lecha Dodi, when worshippers turn toward the entrance of the synagogue to "greet" the sabbath.

In the eighteenth century, with the arrival of the Hasidim
Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
 from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is a term that applies to the geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the Europe. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today, parts of Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons, even though there i...
, the synagogue came to serve the Ashkenazi community. The synagogue was destroyed in the earthquake of 1837, and was rebuilt 20 years later. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War a bomb is said to have fallen in the outside courtyard. Shrapnel
Shrapnel

Shrapnel shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions which carried a large number of individual bullets to the target and then ejected them forwards, relying almost entirely on the shell's velocity for their lethality....
 flew into the synagogue while it was packed with people seeking shelter, yet miraculously no one was hurt. This event was considered one of many miracles said that took place in Safed. Though the synagogue is associated by name with the Ashkenazi community, today it serves as a place of worship for Hasidic and Sephardic Jews and remains popular among worshippers of different affiliations.

The Holy Ark was carved from olive wood by a craftsman from Galicia
Galicia (Central Europe)

Galicia is a historical region in East Central Europe, currently divided between Poland and Ukraine, named after Ukra?ni?n city of Halych.The nucleus of historic Galicia is formed of three regions of western Ukraine: Lvivska oblast, Ternopilska oblast and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast....
, in the style of the synagogues of Eastern Europe. It includes an anthropomorphic image of a lion
Lion

The lion is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger....
, alluding to Rabbi Luria's acronym Ari, which means lion.

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