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Safed

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	Topics Safed Topic Home Safed (, pronounced Tsfat; , pronounced Safad) is a city in the Northern District of IsraelIsrael Israel , officially the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia on the southeastern edge of the Mediterranean Se... . Safed is one of Judaism's Four Holy CitiesFour Holy Cities The Four Holy Cities is the collective term in Jewish tradition applied to the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Sa... , along with JerusalemJerusalem Jerusalem is Israel's capital and largest city, with a population of 724,000 contained in 123 km.... , TiberiasTiberias Tiberias is a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lower Galilee, Israel.... and HebronHebron Hebron is a town in the Southern Judea region of the West Bank.... , and a center for KabbalahKabbalah Kabbalah literally means a "receiving", in the sense of a "received tradition".... , or Jewish mysticismMysticism Summary Mysticism from the Greek ?st???? "an initiate" is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious aware... . At an elevation of 800 meters (2,660 feet) above sea level, Safed is the highest city in the GalileeFacts About Galilee The Galilee , meaning "circuit", is a large region overlapping with much of the North District of Israel.... . History Despite its importance as a holy city, Safed first appears in Jewish sources in the late Middle Ages. It is mentioned in the Jerusalem TalmudJerusalem Talmud Overview The Jerusalem Talmud or *Talmud Yerushalmi, often the Yerushalmi* for short, and also known as the Pale... as one of five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the New Moon and festivals during the Second Temple period. Legend has it that Safed was founded by a son of NoahNoah Noah or Noach was the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs, best known for the Deluge which came in his time... after the Great Flood. Safed has been identified with Sepph, a fortified Jewish town in the Upper GalileeUpper Galilee The Upper Galilee is a mountainous area in northern Israel, its borders are the Litani river in Lebanon at the north, the Me... mentioned in the writings of the Roman Jewish historian JosephusJosephus Overview Josephus , who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Flavius Josephus, was a 1st century Jewish histori... (Wars 2:573). In the 12th century, Safed was a fortified Crusader city known as Saphet. In 1265, the MamlukMamluk Summary A mamluk was a slave soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle ... sultan Baybars wiped out the Christian population and turned it into a Muslim town called Safad or Safat. Safed rose to fame in the 16th century a center of KabbalahKabbalah Kabbalah literally means a "receiving", in the sense of a "received tradition".... , or Jewish mysticism. A Hebrew printing press was established in Safed in 1577 by Eliezer Ashkenazi and his son, Isaac of Prague. It was the first press in PalestinePalestine Palestine is one of several names for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the banks of the Jordan River ... and the whole of the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire The Ottoman Empire , is also sometimes known in the West as the Turkish Empire.... . Under the Ottomans, Safed was part of the vilayet of SidonSidon Sidon, Zidon or Saida, is the third-largest city in Lebanon.... .After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many prominent rabbis found their way to Safed, among them the kabbalists Isaac Luria (Arizal)Isaac Luria Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Jewish scholar and mystic.... and Moshe Kordovero; Joseph Caro, the author of the Shulchan AruchShulchan Aruch The *Shulchan Aruch* is a codex, or written catalogue, of halacha, composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century.... and Shlomo Halevi AlkabetzShlomo Halevi Alkabetz Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz was a kabbalist and poet perhaps best known for his composition of the song Lecha Dodi; sou... , composer of the SabbathShabbat Shabbat , is the weekly day of rest in Judaism.... hymn Lecha Dodi. The influx of Sephardi JewsSephardi Jews Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazi Jews.... made Safed a global center for Jewish learning and a regional center for trade throughout 15th and 16th centuries. In 1555, the Jewish population was 8,000-10,000. By the end of the century, it had grown to 20,000 or 30,000. An outbreak of plague decimated the population in 1742 and an earthquake in 1759 left the city in ruins. An influx of Russian Jews in 1776 and 1781, and of the PerushimPerushim The Perushim were disciples of Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who left Lithuania to settle in the Land of Israel, then a p... in 1809 and 1810, reinvigorated the community. In 1812, another plague killed 80% of the Jewish population, and in 1819 the remaining Jews were held for ransom by Abdullah Pasha, the governor of AcreAcre, Israel The city of Acre is in the Western Galilee district in northern Israel.... . On January 1, 1837, an earthquake killed 4,000 Jewish inhabitants, mostly by burying them in their homes. In 1847, plague struck Safed again. Throughout the 19th century, the Jewish community suffered from BedouinBedouin *Bedouin, derived from the Arabic ' , a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic... and Arab attacks. The Jewish population was increased in the last half of the 19th century by immigration from IranFacts About Iran 'Throughout history, Iran has been of great geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia.... , MoroccoMorocco The Kingdom of Morocco* is a country in North Africa.... , and AlgeriaAlgeria Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is a country in north Africa, and the second largest ... . Moses MontefioreMoses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore was one of the most famous British Jews in the 19th century.... visited Safed seven times and financed rebuilding of much of the town. Virtually all the antiquities of Safed were destroyed by earthquakes. Demographics According to the CBSIsrael Central Bureau of Statistics The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, often abbreviated to CBS, is the Israeli government bureau commissioned with ... , Safed had a population of 26,600 in 2003. The ethnic makeup of the city was 99.2% JewJew Jews are followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people , an ethno-religious group descended from th... ish and non-Arab, with no significant ArabArab The Arabs are predominantly speakers of the Arabic language, rather than a pure ethnic group, mainly found throughout the ... population. According to CBS, in 2001 there were 12,700 males and 13,200 females. The population of the city was spread out with 43.2% 19 years of age or younger, 13.5% between 20 and 29, 17.1% between 30 and 44, 12.5% from 45 to 59, 3.1% from 60 to 64, and 10.5% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 3.0%, and 0.9% in 2003. Income In December 2001, residents of Safed earned an average of 4,476 shekelShekel Shekel, also rendered sheqel, refers to one of many ancient units of weight and currency.... s per month, compared to the national average of 6,835 shekels. In 2000, there were 6,450 salaried workers and 523 self-employed. Salaried men had a mean monthly wage of NIS 5,631 (a real change of 10.2%) versus NIS 3,330 for women (a real change of 2.3%). The mean income for the self-employed was NIS 4,843. A total of 425 residents received unemployment benefits and 3,085 received income supplements. Education According to CBS, there are 25 schools and 6,292 students in the city. They are spread out as 18 elementary schools and 3,965 elementary school students, and 11 high schools and 2,327 high school students. 40.8% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001. One of the most important intellectual figures from Safed is Aous ShakraFacts About Aous Shakra Aous Shakra was an existential philosopher and politician.... . Shakra was a one of the most important existential philosophers of the 20th century; his books are still used to teach courses at Harvard where he had taught. ulture Meiri Museum of Safed History Printing Press Museum Artists colony, Old City of Safed Biblical Museum Arab-Israeli conflict Twenty Jewish residents of Safed were murdered in the 1929 Safed massacre1929 Safed massacre The 1929 Safed massacre took place on 29 August during the 1929 Palestine riots.... . In 1948, Safed was home to 12,000 Arabs. The city's 1,700 Jews were mostly religious and elderly. In the Israeli War of Independence, the Arabs fled en masse, among them the family of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud AbbasMahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas, commonly known by the kunya Abu Mazen, was elected President of the Palestinian National Authority on J... .The city was conquered by Israeli forces on May 11, 1948. In 1974, 102 Israeli Jewish teenagers from Safed on a school trip were taken hostage by a Palestinian terrorist group Democratic Front for the Liberation of PalestineDemocratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist political and military organization... (DFLP) while sleeping in a school in Maalot and 21 of them were killed . In July 2006, KatyushaKatyusha Katyusha multiple rocket launchers are a type of rocket artillery built and fielded by the Soviet Union beginning in the Sec... rockets fired by HezbollahHezbollah Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist organization in Lebanon.... from Southern Lebanon hit Safed, killing one man and injuring others. On July 14, rockets killed a five-year-old boy and his grandmother. Many residents fled the town. On July 22, four people were injured in a rocket attack. Bibliography Maes, Kevin. , January 15, 2000. See also Balady citronBalady citron Balady Citron is most commonly referring to the Pitamless Israeli Citron which was considered native to Palestine, as balady... External links (English) (English) (English&Hebrew)