Hubbry Logo
SafedSafedMain
Open search
Safed
Community hub
Safed
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Safed
Safed
Safed
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Safed (/ˈsɑːfɛd/ SAH-fed;[3][4] Arabic: صَفَد, romanized: Ṣafad), also known as Tzfat[5][6] and officially as Zefat[6] (Hebrew: צְפַת, romanized: Ṣəp̄aṯ),[a] is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to 937 m (3,074 ft), Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel.[7] In 2022, 93.2% of the population was Jewish and 6.8% was counted as other.[8]

Key Information

Safed has been identified with Sepph (Σέπφ), a fortified town in the Upper Galilee mentioned in the writings of the Roman Jewish historian Josephus. 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. Safed attained local prominence under the Crusaders, who built a large fortress there in 1168. It was conquered by Saladin 20 years later, and demolished by his grandnephew al-Mu'azzam Isa in 1219. After reverting to the Crusaders in a treaty in 1240, a larger fortress was erected, which was expanded and reinforced in 1268 by the Mamluk sultan Baybars, who developed Safed into a major town and the capital of a new province spanning the Galilee. After a century of general decline, the stability brought by the Ottoman conquest in 1517 ushered in nearly a century of growth and prosperity in Safed, during which time Jewish immigrants from across Europe developed the city into a center for wool and textile production and the mystical Kabbalah movement. It became known as one of the Four Holy Cities of Judaism. As the capital of the Safad Sanjak, it was the main population center of the Galilee, with large Muslim and Jewish communities. Besides during the fortunate governorship of Fakhr al-Din II in the early 17th century, the city underwent a general decline and by the mid-18th century was eclipsed by Acre. Its Jewish residents were targeted in Druze and local Muslim raids in the 1830s, and many perished in an earthquake in that same decade – through the philanthropy of Moses Montefiore, its Jewish synagogues and homes were rebuilt.

Safed's population reached 24,000 toward the end of the 19th century; it was a mixed city, divided roughly equally between Jews and Muslims with a small Christian community. Its Muslim merchants played a key role as middlemen in the grain trade between the local farmers and the traders of Acre, while the Ottomans promoted the city as a center of Sunni jurisprudence. Safed's conditions improved considerably in the late 19th century, a municipal council was established along with a number of banks, though the city's jurisdiction was limited to the Upper Galilee. By 1922, Safed's population had dropped to around 8,700, roughly 60% Muslim, 33% Jewish and the remainder Christians. Amid rising ethnic tension throughout Mandatory Palestine, Safed's Jews were attacked in an Arab riot in 1929. The city's population had risen to 13,700 by 1948, overwhelmingly Arab, though the city was proposed to be part of a Jewish state in the 1947 UN Partition Plan. During the 1948 war, Arab factions attacked and besieged the Jewish quarter which held out until Jewish paramilitary forces captured the city after heavy fighting, precipitating British forces to withdraw.[9] Most of the city's predominantly Palestinian-Arab population fled or were expelled as a result of attacks by Jewish forces and the nearby Ein al-Zeitun massacre, and were not allowed to return after the war, such that today the city has an almost exclusively Jewish population.[9][10] That year, the city became part of the then-newly established state of Israel.

Art in Safed: zodiac on ceramic disk

Safed has a large Haredi community and remains a center for Jewish religious studies. Safed today hosts the Ziv Hospital as well as the Zefat Academic College. Safed is a major subject in Israeli art, it hosts an Artists' Quarter. Several prominent art movements played a role in the city, most notably the École de Paris.[11] However the Artists' quarter has declined since its golden age in the second half of the 20th century.[12][13] Due to its high elevation, the city has warm summers and cold, often snowy winters.[14] Its mild climate and scenic views have made Safed a popular holiday resort frequented by Israelis and foreign visitors.[15] In 2023 it had a population of 39,179.[2]

Biblical reference

[edit]

Legend has it that Safed was founded by a son of Noah after the Great Flood.[14] According to the Book of Judges (Judges 1:17), the area where Safed is located was assigned to the tribe of Naphtali.[16]

It has been suggested that Jesus' assertion that "a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden"[17] referred to Safed.[18]

History

[edit]

Antiquity

[edit]

Safed has been identified with Sepph, a fortified town in the Upper Galilee mentioned in the writings of the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus.[19] Safed is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud as one of five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the New Moon and festivals during the Second Temple period.[20]

Crusader era

[edit]

Pre-Crusader village and tower

[edit]

There is scarce information about Safed before the Crusader conquest.[21][22] A document from the Cairo Geniza, composed in 1034, mentions a transaction made in Tiberias in 1023 by a certain Jew, Musa ben Hiba ben Salmun with the nisba (Arabic descriptive suffix) "al-Safati" (of Safed),[21] indicating the presence of a Jewish community living alongside Muslims in Safed in the 11th century.[23] According to the Muslim historian Ibn Shaddad (d. 1285), at the beginning of the 12th century, a "flourishing village" beneath a tower called Burj Yatim had existed at the site of Safed on the eve of the Crusaders' capture of the area in 1101–1102 and that "nothing" about the village was mentioned in "the early Islamic history books".[24] Although Ibn Shaddad mistakenly attributes the tower's construction to the Knights Templar, the modern historian Ronnie Ellenblum asserts that the tower was likely built during the early Muslim period (mid-7th–11th centuries).[24]

First Crusader period

[edit]

The Frankish chronicler William of Tyre noted the presence of a burgus (tower) in Safed, which he called "Castrum Saphet" or "Sephet", in 1157.[25] Safed was the seat of a castellany (area governed by a castle) by at least 1165, when its castellan (appointed castle governor) was Fulk, constable of Tiberias.[26] The castle of Safed was purchased from Fulk by King Amalric of Jerusalem in 1168.[25] He subsequently reinforced the castle and transferred it to the Templars in the same year.[25] Theoderich the Monk, describing his visit to the area in 1172, noted that the expanded fortification of the castle of Safed was meant to check the raids of the Turks (the Turkic Zengid dynasty ruled the area east of the Kingdom).[27] Testifying to the considerable expansion of the castle, the chronicler Jacques de Vitry (d. 1240) wrote that it was practically built anew.[28] The remains of Fulk's castle can now be found under the citadel excavations, on a hill above the old city.[29]

In the estimation of modern historian Havré Barbé, the castellany of Safed comprised approximately 376 square kilometers (145 sq mi).[23] According to Barbé, its western boundary straddled the domains of Acre, including the fief of St. George de la Beyne, which included Sajur and Beit Jann, and the fief of Geoffrey le Tor, which included Akbara and Hurfeish, and in the southwest ran north of Maghar and Sallama.[30] Its northern boundary was marked by the Nahal Dishon (Wadi al-Hindaj) stream,[31] its southern boundary was likely formed near Wadi al-Amud, separating it from the fief of Tiberias,[32] while its eastern limits were the marshes of the Hula Valley and upper Jordan Valley.[33] There were several Jewish communities in the castellany of Safed, as testified in the accounts of Jewish pilgrims and chroniclers between 1120 and 1293.[34] Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the town in 1170, does not record any Jews living in Safed proper.[35]

Ayyubid interregnum

[edit]

Safed was captured by the Ayyubids led by Sultan Saladin in 1188 after a month-long siege, following the Battle of Hattin in 1187.[36] Saladin ultimately allowed its residents to relocate to Tyre.[36] He granted Safed and Tiberias as an iqta (akin to a fief) to Sa'd al-Din Mas'ud ibn Mubarak (d. 1211), the son of his niece, after which it was bequeathed to Sa'd al-Din's son Ahmad.[37] Samuel ben Samson, who visited the town in 1210, mentions the existence of a Jewish community of at least fifty there.[38] He also noted that two Muslims guarded and maintained the cave tomb of a rabbi, Hanina ben Horqano, in Safed.[39] The iqta of Safed was taken from the family of Sa'd al-Din by the Ayyubid emir of Damascus, al-Mu'azzam Isa, in 1217.[40] Two years later, during the Crusader siege of Damietta, al-Mu'azzam Isa had the Safed castle demolished to prevent its capture and reuse by potential future Crusaders.[40]

Second Crusader period

[edit]
Ruins of the Citadel of Safed
1871–1877 PEF Survey of Palestine map
The Crusader-Mamluk-era fortress of Safed

As an outcome of the treaty negotiations between the Crusader leader Theobald I of Navarre and the Ayyubid al-Salih Ismail, Emir of Damascus, in 1240 Safed once again passed to Crusader control.[40] Afterward, the Templars were tasked with rebuilding the Citadel of Safed, with efforts spearheaded by Benedict of Alignan, Bishop of Marseille.[40] The rebuilding is recorded in a short treatise, De constructione castri Saphet, from the early 1260s.[41] The reconstruction was completed at the considerable expense of 40,000 bezants in 1243.[40][42] The new fortress was larger than the original, with a capacity for 2,200 soldiers in time of war, and with a resident force of 1,700 in peacetime.[42][43] The garrison's goods and services were provided by the town or large village growing rapidly beneath the fortress, which, according to Benoit's account, contained a market, "numerous inhabitants" and was protected by the fortress.[44] The settlement also benefited from trade with travelers on the route between Acre and the Jordan Valley, which passed through Safed.[40]

Mamluk period

[edit]
The Red Mosque in Safed, 2001. It was originally built by the Mamluk sultan Baybars in 1275, and renovated or expanded by the Ottomans in 1671/72

The Ayyubids of Egypt had been supplanted by the Mamluks in 1250 and the Mamluk sultan Baybars entered Syria with his army in 1261. Thereafter, he led a series of campaigns over several years against Crusader strongholds across the Syrian coastal mountains.[45] Safed, with its position overlooking the Jordan River and allowing the Crusaders early warnings of Muslim troop movements in the area, had been a consistent aggravation for the Muslim regional powers.[46] After a six-week siege,[44] Baybars captured Safed in July 1266,[21] after which he had nearly the entire garrison killed.[47] The siege occurred during a Mamluk military campaign to subdue Crusader strongholds in Palestine and followed a failed attempt to capture the Crusaders' coastal stronghold of Acre.[21] Unlike the Crusader fortresses along the coastline, which were demolished upon their capture by the Mamluks, Baybars spared the fortress of Safed.[48] He likely preserved it because of the strategic value stemming from its location on a high mountain and its isolation from other Crusader fortresses.[48] Moreover, Baybars determined that in the event of a renewed Crusader invasion of the coastal region, a strongly fortified Safed could serve as an ideal headquarters to confront the Crusader threat.[49] In 1268, he had the fortress repaired, expanded and strengthened.[48] He commissioned numerous building works in the town of Safed, including caravanserais, markets and baths, and converted the town's church into a mosque.[50] The mosque, called Jami al-Ahmar (the Red Mosque), was completed in 1275.[51] By the end of Baybars's reign, Safed had developed into a prosperous town and fortress.[50]

Baybars assigned fifty-four mamluks, at the head of whom was Emir Ala al-Din Kandaghani, to oversee the management of Safed and its dependencies.[52] From the time of its capture, the city was made the administrative center of Mamlakat Safad,[53] one of seven mamlakas (provinces), whose governors were typically appointed from Cairo, which made up Mamluk Syria.[54] Initially, its jurisdiction corresponded roughly with the Crusader castellany.[52] After the fall of the Montfort Castle to the Mamluks in 1271, the castle and its dependency, the Shaghur district, were incorporated into Mamlakat Safad.[55] The territorial jurisdiction of the mamlaka eventually spanned the entire Galilee and the lands further south down to Jenin.[53]

The Mamluk mausoleum of Zawiyat Banat Hamid, originally built in 1372

The geographer al-Dimashqi, who died in Safed in 1327, wrote around 1300 that Baybars built a "round tower and called it Kullah ..." after leveling the old fortress. The tower was built in three stories, and provided with provisions, halls, and magazines. Under the structure, a cistern collected enough rainwater to regularly supply the garrison.[56] The governor of Safed, Emir Baktamur al-Jukandar (the Polomaster; r. 1309–1311), built a mosque later called after him in the northeastern section of the city.[57] The geographer Abu'l Fida (1273–1331), the ruler of Hama, described Safed as follows:

[Safed] was a town of medium size. It has a very strongly built castle, which dominates the Lake of Tabariyyah [Sea of Galilee]. There are underground watercourses, which bring drinking-water up to the castle-gate...Its suburbs cover three hills... Since the place was conquered by Al Malik Adh Dhahir [Baybars] from the Franks [Crusaders], it has been made the central station for the troops who guard all the coast-towns of that district."[58]

The native qadi (Islamic head judge) of Safed, Shams al-Din al-Uthmani, composed a text about Safed called Ta'rikh Safad (the History of Safed) during the rule of its governor Emir Alamdar (r. 1372–1376).[59] The extant parts of the work consisted of ten folios largely devoted to Safed's distinguishing qualities, its dependent villages, agriculture, trade and geography, with no information about its history.[60] His account reveals the city's dominant features were its citadel, the Red Mosque and its towering position over the surrounding landscape.[61] He noted Safed lacked "regular urban planning", madrasas (schools of Islamic law), ribats (hostels for military volunteers) and defensive walls, and that its houses were clustered in disarray and its streets were not distinguishable from its squares.[62] He attributed the city's shortcomings to the dearth of generous patrons.[63] A device for transporting buckets of water called the satura existed in the city mainly to supply the soldiers of the citadel; surplus water was distributed to the city's residents.[64] Al-Uthmani praised the natural beauty of Safed, its therapeutic air, and noted that its residents took strolls in the surrounding gorges and ravines.[63]

The Black Death brought about a decline in the population in Safed from 1348 onward.[47] There is little available information about the city and its dependencies during the last century of Mamluk rule (c. 1418 – c. 1516), though travelers' accounts describe a general decline precipitated by famine, plagues, natural disasters and political instability.[65] In 1481, Joseph Mantabia reported that 300 Jewish families lived in Safed and its surrounding villages. While the accuracy of this figure is uncertain, it reflects the town's growing importance as a center of Jewish life, particularly with the arrival of Sephardic Jews due to persecutions in Portugal and Spain.[66]

Ottoman era

[edit]

Sixteenth-century prosperity

[edit]
The Red Mosque

The Ottomans conquered Mamluk Syria following their victory at the Battle of Marj Dabiq in northern Syria in 1516.[67] Safed's inhabitants sent the keys of the town citadel to Sultan Selim I after he captured Damascus.[68] No fighting was recorded around Safed, which was bypassed by Selim's army on the way to Mamluk Egypt.[67] The sultan had placed the district of Safed under the jurisdiction of the Mamluk governor of Damascus, Janbirdi al-Ghazali, who defected to the Ottomans.[68] Rumors in 1517 that Selim was slain by the Mamluks precipitated a revolt against the newly appointed Ottoman governor by the townspeople of Safed, which resulted in wide-scale killings, many of which targeted the city's Jews, who were viewed as sympathizers of the Ottomans.[69] Safed became the capital of the Safed Sanjak, roughly corresponding with Mamlakat Safad but excluding most of the Jezreel Valley and the area of Atlit,[70] part of the larger province of Damascus Eyalet.[71]

In 1525/26, the population of Safed consisted of 633 Muslim families, 40 Muslim bachelors, 26 Muslim religious persons, nine Muslim disabled, 232 Jewish families, and 60 military families.[72] In 1549, under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a wall was constructed and troops were garrisoned to protect the city.[73] In 1553/54, the population consisted of 1,121 Muslim households, 222 Muslim bachelors, 54 Muslim religious leaders, 716 Jewish households, 56 Jewish bachelors, and 9 disabled persons.[74] At least in the 16th century, Safed was the only kasaba (city) in the sanjak and in 1555 was divided into nineteen mahallas (quarters), seven Muslim and twelve Jewish.[75] The total population of Safed rose from 926 households in 1525–26 to 1,931 households in 1567–1568.[76] Among these, the Jewish population rose from a mere 233 households in 1525 to 945 households in 1567–1568.[76] The Muslim quarters were Sawawin, located west of the fortress; Khandaq (the moat); Ghazzawiyah, which had likely been settled by Gazans; Jami' al-Ahmar (the Red Mosque), located south of the fortress and named for the local mosque; al-Akrad,[77] which dated to the Middle Ages and continued to exist through the 19th century,[78] and whose inhabitants mainly were Kurds; al-Wata (the lower), the southernmost quarter of Safed and situated below the city; and al-Suq, named after the market or mosque located within the quarter.[77] 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), Musta'rib (Jews of local, Arabic-speaking origin), Magharibah (northwestern Africa), Araghun ma' Qatalan (Aragon and Catalonia), Majar (Hungary), Puliah (Apulia), Qalabriyah (Calabria), Sibiliyah (Seville), Taliyan (Italian) and Alaman (German).[77]

In the 15th and 16th centuries there were several well-known Sufis (mystics) of ibn Arabi living in Safed.[79] The Sufi sage Ahmad al-Asadi (1537–1601) established a zawiya (Sufi lodge) called Sadr Mosque in the city.[80] Safed became a center of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) during the 16th century.[81]

After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many prominent rabbis found their way to Safed, among them the Kabbalists Isaac Luria and Moses ben Jacob Cordovero; Joseph Caro, the author of the Shulchan Aruch; and Solomon Alkabetz, composer of the Shabbat hymn "Lekha Dodi".

The kabbalistic response to the trauma of the exile varied widely, ranging from a quietistic approach adopted by the Italian and North African kabbalists, to a more activist apocalyptic approach which sought signs of the imminent redemption. The expulsion was seen by many as the tribulation that would herald the beginning of the messianic age as foretold in rabbinic literature. The spiritualization of religious life culminated in the creative outburst of religious innovation in Safed in the second half of the sixteenth century as a response to the expulsion. This spiritual revolution spread from Safed and transformed the practice of Judaism throughout the Jewish world.[82]

The influx of Sephardic Jews—reaching its peak under the rule of sultans Suleiman the Magnificent and Selim II—made Safed a global center for Jewish learning and a regional center for trade throughout the 15th and 16th centuries.[81][83] Sephardi Jews and other Jewish immigrants by then outnumbered Musta'arabi Jews in the city.[47]

During this period, the Jewish community developed the textile industry in Safed, transforming the town into an important and lucrative wool production and textile manufacturing centre.[84] There were more than 7,000 Jews in Safed in 1576 when Murad III proclaimed the forced deportation of 1,000 wealthy Jewish families to Cyprus to boost the island's economy. There is no evidence that the edict or a second one issued the following year for removing 500 families, was enforced.[85] In 1584, there were 32 synagogues registered in the town.[86]

A Hebrew printing press, the first in West Asia, was established in Safed in 1577 by Eliezer ben Isaac Ashkenazi of Prague and his son, Isaac.[20][87]

Political decline, attacks and natural disasters

[edit]
Originally built as a caravanserai by the Ottomans in the mid-1700s, the "Saraya" (house of the governor) currently serves as a community centre[88]

By the early part of the 17th century, Safed was a small town.[47] In 1602, the paramount chief of the Druze in Mount Lebanon, Fakhr al-Din II of the Ma'n dynasty, was appointed the sanjak-bey (district governor) of Safed, in addition to his governorship of neighbouring Sidon-Beirut Sanjak to the north. In the preceding years, the Safed Sanjak had entered a state of ruin and desolation and was often the scene of conflict between the local Druze and Shia Muslim peasants and the Ottoman authorities. By 1605, Fakhr al-Din had established peace and security in the sanjak, with highway brigandage and Bedouin raids having ceased under his watch. Trade and agriculture consequently thrived and the population prospered.[89] He formed close relations with the city's Sunni Muslim ulama (religious scholars), particularly the mufti, al-Khalidi al-Safadi of the Hanafi school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), who became his practical court historian.[90]

The Ottomans drove Fakhr al-Din into European exile in 1613, but his son Ali became governor in 1615.[91] Fakhr al-Din returned to his domains in 1618 and five years later regained the governorship of Safed, which the Ma'n dynasty had lost, after his victory against the governor of Damascus at the Battle of Anjar.[92] In c. 1625, the orientalist Franciscus 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."[93] According to the historian Louis Finkelstein, the Jewish community of Safed was plundered by the Druze under Mulhim ibn Yunus, nephew of Fakhr al-Din.[94] Five years later, Fakhr al-Din was routed by the Ottoman governor of Damascus, Mulhim abandoned Safed, and its Jewish residents returned.[94][dubious – discuss]

The Druze again attacked the Jews of Safed in 1656.[94] During the power struggle between Fakhr al-Din's heirs (1658–1667), each faction attacked Safed.[94] In the intra-communal turmoil among the Druze following the death of Mulhim, the 1660 destruction of Safed targeted the Jews there and in Tiberias; only a few of the former Jewish residents returned to the city before 1662.[95][96] Survivors relocated mainly to Sidon or Jerusalem.

Safed Sanjak and the neighbouring Sidon-Beirut Sanjak to the north were administratively separated from Damascus in 1660 to form the Sidon Eyalet, of which Safed was briefly the capital.[97] The province was created by the imperial government to check the power of the Druze of Mount Lebanon, as well as the Shia of Jabal Amil.[97]

As nearby Tiberias remained desolate for several decades, Safed gained a key position among Galilean Jewish communities. In 1665, the Sabbatai Sevi movement arrived in Safed.[citation needed] In the 1670s, the account of the Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi recorded that Safed contained three caravanserais, several mosques, seven zawiyas, and six hammams.[47] The Red Mosque was restored by Safed's governor Salih Bey in 1671/72, at which point it measured about 120 by 80 feet (37 m × 24 m), had all masonry interior, a cistern to collect rainwater in the winter for drinking and a tall minaret over its southern entrance; the minaret had been destroyed before the end of the 17th century.[98]

The Tiberias-based sheikh Zahir al-Umar of the local Arab Zaydan clan, whose father Umar al-Zaydani had been the governor and tax farmer of Safed in 1702–1706, wrested control of Safed and its tax farm from its native strongman, Muhammad Naf'i, through military pressure and diplomacy by 1740.[99] The Naf'i, Shahin, and Murad families continued to farm the taxes of Safed and its countryside into the 1760s as Zahir's subordinates.[100] By the 1760s, Zahir entrusted Safed to his son Ali, who made the town his headquarters.[101] After Zahir was killed by Ottoman imperial forces, the governor of Sidon, Jazzar Pasha, moved to oust Zahir's sons from their Galilee strongholds. Ali made a final, unsuccessful stand against Jazzar Pasha from Safed, which was afterward captured and garrisoned by the governor.[102] The simultaneous rise of Acre, established by Zahir as his capital in 1750 and which served as the capital of the Sidon Eyalet under Jazzar Pasha (1775–1804) and his successors, Sulayman Pasha al-Adil (1805–1819) and Abdullah Pasha (1820–1831), contributed to the political decline of Safed. It became a subdistrict center with limited local influence, belonging to the Acre Sanjak .[71]

Underdevelopment and a series of natural disasters further contributed to Safed's decline during the 17th–mid-19th centuries.[71] An outbreak of plague decimated the population in 1742 and the Near East earthquakes of 1759 left the city in ruins, killing 200 residents.[103] An influx of Russian Jews in 1776 and 1781, and of Lithuanian Jews of the Perushim movement in 1809 and 1810, reinvigorated the Jewish community.[104] In 1812, another plague killed 80% of the Jewish population.[105] Following Abdullah Pasha of Acre's ordered killing of his Jewish vizier Haim Farhi, who served the same post under Jazzar and Sulayman, the governor imprisoned the Jewish residents of Safed on 12 August 1820, accusing them of tax evasion under the concealment of Farhi; they were released upon paying a ransom.[105][106] The war between Abdullah Pasha and the influential Farhi brothers in Constantinople and Damascus in 1822–1823 prompted Jewish flight from the Galilee in general, though by 1824 Jewish immigrants were steadily moving to the city.[107]

The forces of Muhammad Ali of Egypt wrested control of the Levant from the Ottomans in 1831 and in the same year many Jews who had fled the Galilee, including Safed, under Abdullah Pasha returned as a result of Muhammad Ali's liberal policies toward Jews.[108] Safed was raided by Druze in 1833 at the approach of Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian governor of the Levant.[105] In the following year, the Muslim notables of the city, led by Salih al-Tarshihi, opposed to the Egyptian policy of conscription, joined the peasants' revolt in Palestine.[109] During the revolt, rebels plundered the city for over thirty days.[110] Emir Bashir Shihab II of Mount Lebanon and his Druze fighters entered its environs in support of the Egyptians and compelled Safed's leaders to surrender.[109] The Galilee earthquake of 1837 killed about half of Safed's 4,000-strong Jewish community,[111] destroyed all fourteen of its synagogues and prompted the flight of 600 Perushim for Jerusalem;[112] the surviving Sephardic and Hasidic Jews mostly remained.[113] Among the 2,158 residents of Safed who had died, 1,507 were Ottoman subjects, the rest foreign citizens.[114] The Jewish quarter was situated on the hillside and was particularly hard hit;[111] the southern and Muslim section of the town experienced considerably less damage.[114] The following year, in 1838, Druze rebels and local Muslims raided Safed for three days.

Tanzimat reforms and revival

[edit]
Safed in the 19th century

Ottoman rule was restored across the Levant in 1840. The Empire-wide Tanzimat reforms, which were first adopted in the 1840s, brought about a steady rise in Safed's population and economy.[71] In 1849 Safed had a total estimated population of 5,000, of whom 2,940–3,440 were Muslims, 1,500-2,000 were Jews and 60 were Christians.[115] The population was estimated at 7,000 in 1850–1855, of whom 2,500–3,000 were Jews.[115] The Jewish population increased in the last half of the 19th century by immigration from Persia, Morocco, and Algeria.[105] Moses Montefiore (d. 1885) visited Safed seven times and financed much of the rebuilding of Safed's synagogues and Jewish houses.[105]

In 1864 the Sidon Eyalet was absorbed into the new province of Syria Vilayet. In the new province, Safed remained part of the Acre Sanjak and served as the center of a kaza (third-level subdivision), whose jurisdiction covered the villages around the city and the subdistrict of Mount Meron (Jabal Jarmaq).[71] In the Ottoman survey of Syria in 1871, Safed had 1,395 Muslim households, 1,197 Jewish households and three Christian households.[115] The survey recorded a relatively high number of businesses in the city, namely 227 shops, fifteen mills, fourteen bakeries and four olive oil factories, an indicator of Safed's long-established role as an economic hub for the people of the Upper Galilee, the Hula Valley, the Golan Heights and parts of modern-day South Lebanon.[116] Through the late 19th century, Safed's merchants served as middlemen in the Galilee grain trade, selling the wheat, pulses and fruit grown by the peasants of the Galilee to the traders of Acre, who in turn exported at least part of the merchandise to Europe.[116] Safed also maintained extensive trade with the port of Tyre.[116] The bulk of trade in Safed, which was traditionally dominated by the city's Jews, largely passed to its Muslim merchants during the late 19th century, particularly trade with the local villagers; Muslim traders offered higher credit to the peasants and were able to obtain government assistance for debt repayments.[116] The wealth of Safed's Muslims increased and a number of the city's leading Muslim families made an opportunity from the Ottoman Land Code of 1858 to purchase extensive tracts around Safed.[117] The major Muslim landowning clans were the Soubeh, Murad and Qaddura.[118] The latter owned about 50,000 dunams toward the end of the century, including eight villages around Safed.[119]

Muslim quarter of Safed circa 1908

In 1878 the municipal council of Safed was established.[120] In 1888 the Acre Sanjak, including the Safed Kaza, became part of the new province of Beirut Vilayet, an administrative state of affairs which persisted until the Empire's fall in 1918.[121] The centralization and stability brought by the imperial reforms solidified the political status and practical influence of Safed in the Upper Galilee.[120] The Ottomans developed Safed into a center for Sunni Islam to counterbalance the influence of non-Muslim communities in its environs and the Shia Muslims of Jabal Amil.[122] Along with the three major landowning families, the Muslim ulema (religious scholarly) families of Nahawi, Qadi, Mufti and Naqib comprised the urban elite (a'yan) of the city.[117] The Sunni courts of Safed arbitrated over cases in Akbara, Ein al-Zeitun and as far away as Mejdel Islim.[78] According to the late 19th-century account of British missionary E. W. G. Masterman, the Muslim families of Safed included Kurds, Damascenes, Algerians, Bedouin from the Jordan Valley, and people from the villages around Safed.[123][122] Many Damascenes had been settled in the city by Baybars when he conquered Safed in 1266.[122] Until the late 19th century the Muslims of Safed maintained strong social and cultural connections with Damascus.[122] The government settled Algerian and Circassian exiles in the countryside of Safed in the 1860s and 1878, respectively, possibly in an effort to strengthen the Muslim character of the area.[122] At least two Muslim families in the city itself, Arabi and Delasi, were of Algerian origin, though they accounted for a small proportion of the city's overall Muslim population.[122] Masterman noted that the Muslims of Safed were conservative, "active and hardy", who "dress[ed] well and move[d] about more than the people from the region of southern Palestine".[124] They lived mainly in three quarters of the city: al-Akrad, whose residents were mostly laborers, Sawawin, home to the Muslim a'yan households and the city's Catholic community, and al-Wata, whose inhabitants were largely shopkeepers and minor traders.[122][125] The entire Jewish population lived in the Gharbieh (western) quarter.[125]

Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Safed

Safed's population reached over 15,000 in 1879, 8,000 of whom were Muslims and 7,000 Jews.[122] A population list from about 1887 showed that Safad had 24,615 inhabitants; 2,650 Jewish households, 2,129 Muslim households and 144 Roman Catholic households.[125] Arab families in Safed whose social status rose as a result of the Tanzimat reforms included the Asadi, whose presence in Safed dated to the 16th century, Hajj Sa'id, Hijazi, Bisht, Hadid, Khouri, a Christian family whose progenitor moved to the city from Mount Lebanon during the 1860 civil war, and Sabbagh, a long-established Christian family in the city related to Zahir al-Umar's fiscal adviser Ibrahim al-Sabbagh;[117][126][127] many members of these families became officials in the civil service, local administrations or businessmen.[117] When the Ottomans established a branch of the Agricultural Bank in the city in 1897, all of its board members were resident Arabs, the most influential of whom were Husayn Abd al-Rahim Effendi, Hajj Ahmad al-Asadi, As'ad Khouri and Abd al-Latif al-Hajj Sa'id. The latter two also became board members of the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture branch opened in Safed in 1900.[128] In the last decade of the 19th century, Safed contained 2,000 houses, four mosques, three churches, two public bathhouses, one caravanserai, two public sabils, nineteen mills, seven olive oil presses, ten bakeries, fifteen coffeehouses, forty-five stalls and three shops.[129]

Mandatory Palestine

[edit]
Safed street map (date 2018, white text and light grey streets) overlaid on a Survey of Palestine map (date 1942, black text, red urban areas and black streets), showing the relative locations of Safed to its three Mandate-era satellite villages: Al-Zahiriyya al-Tahta, Ein al-Zeitun and Biriyya.

Safed was the centre of Safad Subdistrict. According to a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Safed had a population of 8,761 inhabitants, consisting of 5,431 Muslims, 2,986 Jews, 343 Christians and others.[130] Safed remained a mixed city during the British Mandate for Palestine and ethnic tensions between Jews and Arabs rose during the 1920s. During the 1929 Palestine riots, Safed and Hebron became major clash points. In the Safed massacre 20 Jewish residents were killed by local Arabs.[131] Safed was included in the part of Palestine recommended to be included in the proposed Jewish state under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.[132]

1948 war

[edit]
Further information: 1948 Palestine war

In 1948 the city was home to about 12,000 Arabs and about 1,700 Jews, mostly religious and elderly.[14] On 5 January 1948, Arabs attacked the Jewish Quarter.[133] In February 1948, during the civil war, Muslim Arabs attacked a Jewish bus attempting to reach Safed, and the Jewish quarter of the town came under siege by the Muslims. British forces that were present did not intervene. According to Martin Gilbert, food supplies ran short. "Even water and flour were in desperately short supply. Each day, the Arab attackers drew closer to the heart of the Jewish quarter, systematically blowing up Jewish houses as they pressed in on the central area."[134]

On April 16, the same day that British forces evacuated Safed, 200 local Arab militiamen, supported by over 200 Arab Liberation Army soldiers, tried to take over the city's Jewish Quarter. They were repelled by the Jewish garrison, consisting of some 200 Haganah fighters, men and women, boosted by a Palmach platoon.[135]

The Palmach ground attack on the Arab section of Safed took place on 6 May, as a part of Operation Yiftach. The first phase of the Palmach plan to capture Safed, was to secure a corridor through the mountains by capturing the Arab village of Biriyya.[136] The Arab Liberation Army placed artillery pieces on a hill adjacent to the Jewish quarter and started its shelling.[137] The Palmach's Third Battalion failed to take the main objective, the "citadel", but "terrified" the Arab population sufficiently to prompt further flight, as well as urgent appeals for outside help and an effort to obtain a truce.[138]

The secretary-general of the Arab League Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam stated that the goal of Plan Dalet was to drive out the inhabitants of Arab villages along the Syrian and Lebanese frontiers, particularly places on the roads by which Arab regular forces could enter the country. He noted that Acre and Safed were in particular danger.[139] However, the appeals for help were ignored, and the British, now less than a week away from the end of the British Mandate of Palestine, also did not intervene against the second and final Haganah attack, which began on the evening of 9 May, with a mortar barrage on key sites in Safed. Following the barrage, Palmach infantry, in bitter fighting, took the citadel, Beit Shalva and the police fort, Safed's three dominant buildings. Through 10 May, Haganah mortars continued to pound the Arab neighbourhoods, causing fires in the marked area and in the fuel dumps, which exploded. "The Palmah 'intentionally left open the exit routes for the population to "facilitate" their exodus...' "[140] According to Gilbert, "The Arabs of Safed began to leave, including the commander of the Arab forces, Adib Shishakli (later Prime Minister of Syria). With the police fort on Mount Canaan isolated, its defenders withdrew without fighting. The fall of Safed was a blow to Arab morale throughout the region... With the invasion of Palestine by regular Arab armies believed to be imminent – once the British had finally left in eleven or twelve days' time – many Arabs felt that prudence dictated their departure until the Jews had been defeated and they could return to their homes.[136] According to Abbasi, the exodus of the Arabs of Safed had three phases.[9] The first was due to the departure of the British compounded by the failure of an attack on the Jewish quarter and a disagreement between the Jordanian and Syrian commanders.[9] The second was due to the fall of nearby Ein al-Zeitun and the massacre that Jewish forces committed there.[9] The third was due to the deliberate creation of panic by Jewish forces.[9]

Some 12,000 Arabs, with some estimates reaching 15,000, fled Safed and were a "heavy burden on the Arab war effort".[141] Among them was the family of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.[142][b] The city was fully under the control of Jewish paramilitary forces by May 11, 1948.[14]

Early in June, Jewish dignitaries from Safed journeyed to Tel Aviv to ask the government to block the return of Arabs to the city, threatening to abandon it if the latter were allowed back. They reasoned that since most of the Arabs' property had been seized or stolen in the meantime, the Jewish community would be unable to withstand the pressure of the returnees' demands for restitution.[144]

  • Safad 1937
    Safad 1937
  • Mandate Police station at Mount Canaan, above Safed (1948)
    Mandate Police station at Mount Canaan, above Safed (1948)
  • Safed (1948)
    Safed (1948)
  • Safed Citadel (1948)
    Safed Citadel (1948)
  • Safad Municipal Police Station after the battle (1948)
    Safad Municipal Police Station after the battle (1948)
  • Bussel House, Safad, 11 April 1948: Yiftach Brigade headquarters
    Bussel House, Safad, 11 April 1948: Yiftach Brigade headquarters
  • View of Safed from Mount Canaan (1948)
    View of Safed from Mount Canaan (1948)
  • Mandate administration building on the eastern outskirts of Safed (1948)
    Mandate administration building on the eastern outskirts of Safed (1948)
  • Yiftach Brigade, with their Hotchkiss machine guns, based at Bussel House, 1948
    Yiftach Brigade, with their Hotchkiss machine guns, based at Bussel House, 1948
  • Druze parading in Safed after the Palmach victory in 1948
    Druze parading in Safed after the Palmach victory in 1948

State of Israel

[edit]

In 1974, 25 Israeli Jews (mainly school children) from Safed, were killed in the Ma'alot massacre. Over 1990s and early 2000s, the town accepted thousands of Russian Jewish immigrants and Ethiopian Beta Israel.[145] In July 2006, "Katyusha" rockets fired by Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon hit Safed, killing one man and injuring others. Many residents fled the town for the duration of the conflict.[146] On July 22, four people were injured in a rocket attack.

The town has retained its unique status as a Jewish studies centre, incorporating numerous facilities.[145] In 2010, eighteen senior rabbis led by the chief rabbi of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu, issued an edict urging the city's residents not to rent or sell property to Arabs, warning of an "Arab takeover"; Arabs constitute a fractional proportion of the population, and the statement was generally perceived to be directed at the 1,300 Arab students enrolled at Zefat Academic College.[147][148][149]

Mayors

[edit]
  • Muhammad Effendi Hassan Abd al-Rahman (elected in 1927)
  • Salah Izz al-Din Qaddura (elected in 1934)
  • Ali Reza al-Nakhawi (1934–1939)
  • Zaki Qaddura
  • Moshe Padhatzur (1948–1955)
  • Avraham HaCohen (1955–1965)
  • Meir Meivar (March–November 1965; November 1969–September 1971)
  • Yaakov Hopert (November 1966–April 1966; April 1967–November 1969)
  • Israel Chaim Berkowitz (April 1966–April 1967)
  • Eli Kadoush (1971–1973)
  • Aharon Nahmias (1973–1983)
  • Ze'ev Perl (1983–1993)
  • Moshe Chaniya (1993–1998)
  • Yosef Oz (1998–2001)
  • Oded HaMairi (2001–2003)
  • Yishai Maimon (2003–2008)
  • Ilan Shohat (2008–2018)
  • Shuki Ohana (2018–February 2024)
  • Yossi Kakun (2024–)

Demographics

[edit]

In 2008, the population of Safed was 32,000.[150] According to CBS figures in 2001, the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.2% Jewish and non-Arab, with no significant Arab population. 43.2% of the residents were 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 city is home to a relatively large community of Haredi Jews.[147] The village of Akbara in the city's southwestern outskirts, which had a population of about 500 Arab Muslims, most of whom belonged to a single clan, the Halihal, is under Safed's municipal jurisdiction.[151]

Seismology

[edit]

The city is located above the Dead Sea Transform, and is one of the cities in Israel most at risk of earthquakes (along with Tiberias, Beit She'an, Kiryat Shmona, and Eilat).[152]

Geography

[edit]

Safed is 40 kilometers (25 mi) east of Acre and 20 kilometers (12 mi) north of Tiberias.[42]

Climate

[edit]

Safed has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy and occasionally snowy winters. The city receives 682 mm (27 in) of precipitation per year. Summers are rainless and hot with an average high temperature of 31 °C (88 °F) and an average low temperature of 20 °C (68 °F). Winters are cool and wet, and precipitation is occasionally in the form of snow. Winters have an average high temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) and an average low temperature of 5 °C (41 °F).

Climate data for Safed (Har Kenaan) (2004-2022, extremes 1939–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 21.7
(71.1) 		26.7
(80.1) 		30.9
(87.6) 		34.5
(94.1) 		38.1
(100.6) 		40.0
(104.0) 		39.0
(102.2) 		42.0
(107.6) 		40.6
(105.1) 		36.0
(96.8) 		30.1
(86.2) 		24.4
(75.9) 		42.0
(107.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 10.3
(50.5) 		12.2
(54.0) 		15.6
(60.1) 		20.5
(68.9) 		25.3
(77.5) 		28.6
(83.5) 		30.6
(87.1) 		30.4
(86.7) 		28.5
(83.3) 		24.8
(76.6) 		18.1
(64.6) 		12.6
(54.7) 		21.4
(70.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) 7.6
(45.7) 		9.1
(48.4) 		11.7
(53.1) 		15.9
(60.6) 		20.1
(68.2) 		23.1
(73.6) 		25.2
(77.4) 		25.2
(77.4) 		23.4
(74.1) 		20.4
(68.7) 		14.8
(58.6) 		10.0
(50.0) 		17.2
(63.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 5.0
(41.0) 		6.0
(42.8) 		7.9
(46.2) 		11.3
(52.3) 		14.9
(58.8) 		17.6
(63.7) 		19.9
(67.8) 		20.0
(68.0) 		18.4
(65.1) 		15.9
(60.6) 		11.4
(52.5) 		7.3
(45.1) 		13.0
(55.3)
Record low °C (°F) −6.4
(20.5) 		−9.0
(15.8) 		−3.4
(25.9) 		0.2
(32.4) 		5.7
(42.3) 		8.7
(47.7) 		12.2
(54.0) 		13.0
(55.4) 		10.7
(51.3) 		5.9
(42.6) 		−1.7
(28.9) 		−3.2
(26.2) 		−9.0
(15.8)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 182.1
(7.17) 		122.9
(4.84) 		61.4
(2.42) 		34.8
(1.37) 		12.3
(0.48) 		0.1
(0.00) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.8
(0.03) 		3.3
(0.13) 		21.3
(0.84) 		72.3
(2.85) 		143.4
(5.65) 		654.7
(25.78)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm) 14.3 11.3 9.7 5.0 2.9 0.2 0.0 0.1 1.1 4.3 7.8 11.3 67.9
Source: Israel Meteorological Service[153][154]

Education

[edit]

According to CBS, the city has 25 schools and 6,292 students. There are 18 elementary schools with a student population of 3,965, and 11 high schools with a student population of 2,327. 40.8% of Safed's 12th graders were eligible for a matriculation (bagrut) certificate in 2001. The Zefat Academic College, originally an extension of Bar-Ilan University, was granted independent accreditation by Israel's Council of Higher Education in 2007.[155] For the 2011–2012 school year, the college began a program designed specifically for Haredi Judaism.[156] It was created in order to allow haredi women living in the Upper Galilee access to higher education, while still maintaining strict religious practice.[156] The program accomplishes this goal through separate classes for male and female students.[156] The classes are also taught during certain hours as to allow women to fulfill other aspects of their religiosity.[156]

In October 2011, Israel's fifth medical school opened in Safed, housed in a renovated historic building in the centre of town that was once a branch of Hadassah Hospital.[157] The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine opened in 2011 as an extension of Bar-Ilan University, created to train physicians in the Upper Galilee region.[158] The schools conducts clinical instructions in six hospitals in the region:

On March 8, 2021, the Israeli Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel is to establish its 10th university in Safed, after a growing need for a university in the northern district of Israel. Plans have been in place to establish a university in the Galilee since 2005, but no progress was made until 2015 when Netanyahu vowed to start working on the project during a Galilee Conference.[159]

As one of Judaism's Holy Cities, Safed hosts several Yeshivas. The Haredi Yeshivat Tzfat [160] and associated institutions are headed by Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan. The Religious Zionist Hesder Yeshiva of Tzfat [161] was founded in 1997 by Rabbi Benyahu Broner and is today headed by Rabbi Shemuel Eliyahu with approximately 120 students. For women, Sharei Bina is a midrasha (seminary) offering a one-year post high school program,[162] with an increased focus on Jewish spirituality - including formal study of Kabbalistic topics.[163] Chabad has several institutions including Machon Alte [164] for women, and the advanced Kollel Tzemach Tzedek.[165]

The Livnot U'Lehibanot program in Safed provides an open, non-denominational atmosphere for young Jewish adults that combines volunteering, hiking and study with exploring Jewish heritage.[166]

Culture

[edit]
Beit Castel gallery in the artists' colony

Artists' colony

[edit]
Main article: Artists Quarter of Safed

In the 1950s and 1960s, Safed was known as Israel's art capital. An artists' colony established in the old Arab quarter was 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 Schaffer.

In honor of the opening of the Glitzenstein Art Museum in 1953, the artist Mane Katz donated eight of his paintings to the city. Today the area contains a large number of galleries and workshops run by individual artists and art vendors. There are several museums and galleries that function in the historical homes of major Israeli artists such as the Frenkel Frenel Museum and the Beit Castel gallery (in Moshe Castel's former home).[167][168][169]

Music

[edit]

In the 1960s, Safed was home to the country's top nightclubs, hosting the debut performances of Naomi Shemer, Aris San, and other singers.[170] 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.[171][172] A school of world music, especially eastern music called Maqamat operates in the Artists' Quarter of Safed.[173]

Museums

[edit]
  • The Beit Hameiri museum documents Safed's Jewish community over the past 200 years.
  • The Museum of the Art of Printing displays the first Hebrew printing press.

Historic sites

[edit]
Scottish church in Safed
Citadel Hill

The Citadel Hill, in Hebrew HaMetzuda, rises east of the Old City and is named after the huge Crusader and then Mamluk castle built there during the 12th and 13th centuries, which continued in use until being totally destroyed by the 1837 earthquake. Its ruins are still visible. On the western slope beneath the ruins stands the former British police station, still pockmarked by bullet holes from the 1948 war.

Old Jewish Quarter
Abuhav Synagogue, one of the city's historic synagogues

Before 1948, most of Safed's Jewish population used to live in the northern section of the old city. Currently home to 32 synagogues, it is also referred to as the synagogue quarter and includes synagogues named after prominent rabbis of the town: the Abuhav, Alsheich, Karo and two named for Rabbi Isaac Luria: one Ashkenazi, the other Sephardi.

Mamluk-period buildings

Further south are two monumental Mamluk-period buildings:

  • the Red Mosque with a khan (1276)
  • the Mamluk mausoleum, now used by freemasons. The mausoleum was built for a Mamluk na'ib (governor) of Safed, Muzaffar ad-Din Musa ibn Hajj al-Ruqtay Musa Muzaffar al-Din ibn Ruqtay al-Hajj, who died in AH 762/AD 1360–61).[174][175]

Southeast of the Artists' Quarter is the Saraya, the fortified governor's residence built by Zahir al-Umar (1689/90–1775).

A report about the "obliteration of non-Jewish historic sites in Safed" mentions a mausoleum, an ancient grave and an ancient mosque that was converted into a clubhouse.[176]

Notable people

[edit]
Main article: List of notable people from Safed

Twin towns – sister cities

[edit]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Israel

Safed is twinned with:

[edit]
  • Monument to the Israeli soldiers who fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
    Monument to the Israeli soldiers who fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
  • Safed in 2009
    Safed in 2009
  • View of Safed
    View of Safed
  • View of Safed
    View of Safed
  • Houses in Safed
    Houses in Safed
  • Doorway in Beit Castel gallery, Safed
    Doorway in Beit Castel gallery, Safed
Panorama Safed and Mount Meron
View to the east and Sea of Galilee

See also

[edit]
  • List of clock towers – Safed has its own, the Ottoman clock tower of the "Saraya" (government house), inaugurated in 1900

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Safed

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Safed (Hebrew: צפת, Tzfat), is a historic city in the region of northern , situated at an elevation of 850 meters (2,790 feet), rendering it the highest municipality in the country. One of Judaism's —alongside , , and —Safed emerged as a global center of and in the , following the arrival of Sephardic scholars expelled from , including luminaries such as (the Arizal) and , author of the . With a documented Jewish presence spanning over two millennia, the city features ancient synagogues, mystical burial sites, and a renowned artists' colony inspired by its crystalline air and scenic vistas overlooking the and . Its population surpasses 36,000, predominantly Jewish, supporting a economy rooted in , light industry, and spiritual institutions despite historical devastations like the 1837 earthquake and Arab riots in 1929 and 1936 that targeted its Jewish community.

Etymology and Early References

Name Origins

The Hebrew name of the city, Tzfat (צפת), is derived from the root tz-p-h (צ-פ-ה), signifying "to look out," "to gaze," or "to scout," a reference to its commanding elevation of up to 937 meters (3,074 feet) above sea level, which provides expansive vistas across the Galilee and surrounding regions. This etymology aligns with the city's strategic topography, historically advantageous for observation and defense. An alternative interpretation connects the name to l'tzapot (לצפות), meaning "to expect" or "to anticipate," evoking a sense of watchful anticipation suited to its perch on Mount Canaan. In Arabic, the city is termed Ṣafad (صَفَد), a transliteration that parallels the Hebrew pronunciation and has been used in historical Islamic sources since at least the medieval period. English renderings such as "Safed" or "Zefat" stem from these Semitic roots, with variations like Ashkenazi Tzfas or Ṣ'fath reflecting phonetic adaptations in Jewish diaspora communities. No definitive pre-biblical attestation of the name exists, though archaeological evidence indicates settlement in the area from the Bronze Age onward, predating explicit linguistic records.

Biblical and Talmudic Mentions

Safed is not mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Some traditions tentatively identify it with the Levitical city of Kartan, allotted to the tribe of Naphtali (Joshua 21:32), based on geographical proximity in the Upper Galilee, though this linkage lacks definitive archaeological corroboration and is not a consensus view among scholars. The Jerusalem Talmud provides the earliest extant rabbinic reference to Safed (Hebrew: Tzfat), citing it as one of five elevated sites in the Galilee used during the Second Temple period to kindle signal fires announcing the new moon and festival commencements. In tractate Rosh Hashanah 2:1 (58a), it is described alongside locations such as Ḥatzor and Ḥevlon, leveraging the region's high terrain for line-of-sight transmission to Jerusalem and beyond, a practice reliant on eyewitness testimony from pairs of observers to synchronize the Jewish calendar. This role attests to Safed's pre-70 CE existence as a strategically positioned Jewish settlement, though it implies no major urban center at the time.

Geography and Environment

Location and Topography

Safed is situated in the Northern District of Israel, within the Upper Galilee region, approximately 35 kilometers north of the Sea of Galilee and 50 kilometers east of the Mediterranean coast. Its geographic coordinates are roughly 32.965° N latitude and 35.496° E longitude. The city occupies an elevation ranging from 850 to 937 meters (2,789 to 3,074 feet) above , positioning it as the highest municipality in both the and . This high altitude contributes to its cooler climate relative to lowland areas and offers expansive views across the surrounding valleys and towards to the northeast. Topographically, Safed is perched on a steep, elongated mountain spur projecting from the broader highlands, characterized by rugged terrain, deep ravines, and terraced slopes that have historically influenced settlement patterns and defensive architecture. The urban layout features narrow, winding alleys and multi-level structures adapted to the hillside, with the oldest quarters clinging to the precipitous eastern and southern edges overlooking the . This elevated, hilly configuration has provided natural fortifications while exposing the to seismic vulnerabilities inherent to the Jordan Rift Valley's proximity.

Climate Patterns

Safed exhibits a (Köppen Csa), featuring hot, arid summers and cool, rainy winters, moderated by its elevation of approximately 900 meters above , which results in lower temperatures and higher compared to coastal or lowland regions in . Annual averages 712 mm, concentrated almost entirely in the from to , with negligible rainfall during summer months. The wettest period occurs from to , when monthly totals can exceed 100 mm; typically records the highest at around 133 mm over 12 rainy days. Winters occasionally bring snowfall, particularly at higher elevations, due to cold fronts bringing sub-zero temperatures and . Summer temperatures, from to , are warm to hot with average highs reaching 29°C in and lows around 19°C, accompanied by low and predominantly clear skies, fostering dry conditions with wind speeds averaging 9-10 km/h from the west. In contrast, winter averages feature highs of 12°C and lows of 5°C in , with higher (up to 65% days) and increased , though muggy conditions are rare year-round except briefly in late summer.
MonthAvg. High (°C)Avg. Low (°C)Avg. Rainfall (mm)
[January12](/page/January_12)579
[February13](/page/February_13)5133
[August29](/page/August_29)190
These patterns reflect orographic enhancement from prevailing westerly winds interacting with the highlands, leading to greater variability and intensity in storms compared to southern . Recent decades show slight warming trends consistent with regional observations, though remains stable at historical averages.

Seismological Risks

Safed is situated in the northern segment of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system, a major left-lateral strike-slip boundary that accommodates approximately 5 mm per year of relative motion between the Arabian and African plates, extending from the northward through the and regions. This positioning exposes the city to elevated seismicity, as the DST has produced multiple historical ruptures capable of generating magnitudes exceeding 7.0, with seismic activity concentrated along en echelon faults and associated branches in the . The most devastating event in Safed's was the January 1, 1837, , estimated at magnitude 7.1, which epicentered near the city and triggered massive landslides on its steep slopes, destroying much of the and killing over 5,000 , including a significant portion of the Jewish . A subsequent on July 11, 1927 (magnitude ~6.2, centered near ), further damaged Safed's structures, exacerbating vulnerabilities from prior rebuilding on unstable . Earlier events, such as the 749 CE (magnitude ~7.4), likely contributed to regional instability, though direct impacts on Safed's prehistoric settlements remain less documented. Contemporary hazard assessments classify northern , including Safed, within a medium-to-high seismic zone, with probabilistic models indicating a 10% probability of potentially damaging ground shaking ( >0.2g) within 50 years, amplified by local site effects from the city's perched and fractured . Simulations project Safed among Israel's most vulnerable locales for future events due to its proximity to locked fault segments and potential for cascading failures like rockfalls and on slopes exceeding 30 degrees. These risks are compounded by incomplete enforcement of modern retrofitting standards in older masonry buildings, despite national building codes updated post-1980s to incorporate DST recurrence intervals of 100–300 years for major ruptures.

Historical Development

Ancient and Biblical Era

Safed exhibits evidence of initial human settlement during the Middle Bronze Age II, circa 2000 BCE, as revealed by archaeological surveys and excavations on the site's mound and slopes, which uncovered material remains consistent with that period. Subsequent occupation appears intermittent, with limited artifacts such as pottery shards dating to the Late Bronze Age around 1500 BCE, indicating sporadic rather than continuous habitation. The site lacks prominence in the and shows no substantial archaeological traces of development or settlement during the monarchic or post-exilic biblical eras, suggesting it was not a fortified town or regional center in those times. By the Second Temple period, Safed gained minor ritual significance among Jewish communities. The Jerusalem Talmud records it as one of five prominent hilltops—alongside locations like and near —from which bonfires were ignited to signal the sighting of the new moon and the onset of festivals, facilitating rapid dissemination of calendrical information across and prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. This practice underscores the site's elevated topography at approximately 834 meters above , advantageous for visibility, though no physical remnants of these signaling activities have been archaeologically confirmed. The earliest explicit literary reference to Safed dates to the Roman era, during the First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE). Flavius , the Jewish commander of , describes fortifying a location called Seph (or Sepph), positioned strategically between Achbara (modern Ikbara) and Yamnit (possibly Khirbet Yavnit), as part of defensive preparations against Roman forces under . This identification aligns Safed with Seph based on geographical coordinates in , marking it as a defensible Jewish outpost amid the revolt, though provides no details on prior infrastructure or population size. Post-revolt, the site recedes from historical records until , with archaeological layers reflecting destruction and limited reuse under Roman and Byzantine rule.

Medieval Periods: Crusaders and Mamluks

During the Crusader era, Safed came under Frankish control following the First Crusade's conquest of the region in 1099, with the initial fortress constructed around 1102 to leverage its strategic elevated position overlooking the Galilee. The site served as a key defensive outpost, described in contemporary accounts as a fortress of significant strength. Ayyubid forces under Saladin's successors ordered its dismantling in 1220 amid efforts to counter Crusader holdings. Safed was recaptured by the Knights Templar in 1240 through a , prompting the erection of a larger citadel that became one of the most formidable Crusader castles in the , manned by a of Templar knights. This structure featured extensive walls and towers designed for prolonged defense, reflecting the military architecture of the period. The sultan I initiated the of Safed on June 13, 1266, targeting the Templar stronghold as part of his campaign to dismantle remaining Crusader positions in the Kingdom of . After six weeks of bombardment and assaults, the fortress surrendered on July 23, 1266, with executing resisting knights and enslaving survivors, marking a decisive blow to Templar presence in the north. Archaeological evidence from the site reveals extensive destruction layers consistent with this , including collapsed upper structures and finely cut stones from the fortifications. Under rule, Safed was reconstituted as the administrative capital of the province of Mamlakat Safad, with reinforcing the citadel in 1268 to secure control over trade routes and frontiers. The period saw relative stability for the Jewish community, which had endured expulsions under Crusader rule but benefited from policies allowing resettlement and economic activity, though the city remained predominantly a and administrative hub rather than a major civilian center. governance persisted until the Ottoman conquest in 1516, during which architectural remnants like mosques and khans were added to the fortified landscape.

Ottoman Prosperity and Kabbalistic Golden Age

Following the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1516, Safed experienced a period of stability and economic revival under Ottoman administration, transitioning from a frontier outpost to a regional center within the Safed Sanjak. The city's strategic location and abundant natural springs facilitated industrial growth, particularly in textile production, which became a cornerstone of prosperity. Jewish immigration, bolstered by Sephardi refugees from the 1492 Spanish expulsion, significantly expanded the community; by the time of the conquest, approximately 300 Jewish families resided there, engaging primarily in and crafts. Under Ottoman rule, were granted monopolies in wool processing and dyeing, leveraging local resources to produce high-quality textiles for export, which transformed Safed into a key manufacturing hub and attracted further settlers. This economic boom supported a diverse population, including , , and , though formed the commercial elite. Parallel to economic flourishing, the mid-16th century marked Safed's emergence as a epicenter of , drawing Kabbalistic scholars who systematized and innovated esoteric traditions. Figures like Rabbi Joseph Karo, who arrived in 1535 and authored the Shulchan —a codification of Jewish law—in 1565, elevated the city's scholarly reputation. Rabbi Moses Cordovero (Ramak) further developed Kabbalistic thought through works like Pardes Rimonim around 1548, establishing systematic frameworks for mystical interpretation. The arrival of Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Ari) in 1570 revolutionized with concepts of (divine contraction) and cosmic repair (tikkun), influencing subsequent generations and cementing Safed's "Golden Age" of mysticism until the late 16th century. This era saw the construction of numerous synagogues and academies, fostering a vibrant intellectual environment that integrated legal scholarship with metaphysical inquiry, though later Ottoman policies, such as the 1576 deportation order affecting 1,000 families, began to strain the community's sustainability.

Ottoman Decline, Attacks, and Tanzimat Revival

Following the Kabbalistic golden age, Safed entered a phase of decline under Ottoman administration in the , characterized by economic stagnation, administrative decentralization, and vulnerability to local warlords. The shift of regional power to Acre under governors like reduced Safed's strategic and commercial significance, exacerbating neglect and periodic banditry that plagued towns. A devastating on October 25, 1759, further accelerated depopulation, destroying much of the city and prompting mass exodus among the Jewish community, whose numbers plummeted from several thousand to under a thousand. The early brought severe human attacks amid political instability. During the Egyptian occupation (1831–1840) under Ibrahim Pasha, the 1834 against conscription and taxation escalated into a month-long in Safed from late May to June, where Arab peasants looted and vandalized the Jewish quarter, desecrating synagogues and causing widespread destruction without significant intervention from Egyptian forces. Reports indicate hundreds of killed or injured, with the violence rooted in local resentments amplified by the revolt's anti-authority fervor. Compounding these assaults, the earthquake of January 1, , razed Safed, killing approximately 2,000–4,000 residents, including a majority of the Jewish population, and leaving the city in ruins for years. An additional attack in 1838 by local Arabs and targeted the weakened Jewish community, further hindering recovery. The Ottoman reconquest in 1840 and subsequent reforms, proclaimed starting with the 1839 , initiated a revival by centralizing authority, promoting legal equality for non-Muslims, and improving infrastructure. In Safed, these measures manifested in the construction of administrative structures like the Seraya fortress for governance and defense, enhanced tax collection, and curtailed local autonomy that had fostered disorder. Jewish philanthropy from and the supported synagogue reconstruction and community resettlement, fostering modest population growth and economic stabilization by the 1860s, though full prosperity eluded the city until later periods.

British Mandate Era

British forces captured Safed on September 25, 1918, during the final offensive of the against Ottoman positions. The city came under formal British administration with the establishment of the in 1920, serving as the administrative center of the Safad Subdistrict. Rising intercommunal tensions marked the Mandate period in Safed, a city with a historically significant Jewish population alongside Arab residents. On August 29, 1929, amid widespread riots across , Arab mobs attacked the Jewish quarters, setting fire to over 200 homes and businesses, resulting in 20 Jewish deaths and 60 wounded. British security forces intervened, but the violence highlighted the fragility of coexistence and prompted Jewish organizations to strengthen local defenses. The of 1936–1939 further destabilized Safed, with guerrilla attacks targeting Jewish communities and British installations. On March 28, 1938, Arab assailants killed four Jews near the city, exemplifying the ongoing violence that strained British control and led to increased military presence, including a on Mount overlooking Safed. By the early , economic activity in Safed, centered on and small-scale , suffered from the cumulative effects of conflict, though the city retained its role as a regional hub. Tensions escalated in the mid-1940s as Jewish surged and Arab opposition intensified, setting the stage for broader civil strife.

1948 Independence War

Safed experienced significant conflict during the civil war phase of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which began after the United Nations Partition Plan announcement on November 29, 1947. The city's Jewish population, numbering approximately 1,500, faced attacks from local Arab militias supported by irregular forces drawn from the surrounding Arab population of around 12,000 in Safed itself, plus additional fighters from nearby villages. The Haganah's local garrison defended the Jewish quarter, which became isolated amid Arab-controlled neighborhoods and the central police fort. Sporadic assaults and sniper fire intensified the pressure on Jewish defenders, who relied on limited arms and supplies smuggled through Arab lines. To alleviate the threat to the and secure strategic heights, the launched Operation Yiftach on April 28, 1948, under commander and the Yiftah Brigade. The operation targeted Arab villages and positions around Safed to encircle and isolate the town. Initial engagements cleared surrounding areas, but direct assaults on Safed met resistance, including a failed probe that highlighted the challenges of urban fighting against fortified Arab positions. The decisive phase unfolded from May 6 to 10, 1948, when the Carmeli Brigade's 22nd Battalion, reinforced by local Haganah units and Palmach elements, conducted coordinated attacks using mortars, explosives, and infantry assaults. Key objectives, including the Arab neighborhoods of 'Akka al-Sharqiyya and the police station on Mount Canaan, fell after intense close-quarters combat. By May 10, Jewish forces controlled the entire city, prompting the flight of most remaining Arab inhabitants amid the chaos of battle and fear of reprisals. The capture of Safed, just days before Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, ensured Jewish control over northeastern Galilee and prevented Arab forces from using the town as a base for incursions. Casualty figures remain imprecise, with Jewish losses estimated in the dozens and Arab deaths higher due to the defensive collapse, though accounts vary based on participant memoirs and operational reports.

Post-Independence Integration into Israel

Following the capture of Safed by Israeli forces in May 1948 during Operation Yiftach, the city was integrated into the newly established State of Israel as part of the Northern District, with initial administrative oversight under the and subsequent civilian governance. The pre-war Jewish population, numbering around 1,500–2,000 amid a total of approximately 13,000 residents, formed the core of the reconstituted community, augmented rapidly by the settlement of Jewish immigrants in vacated Arab properties to prevent re-infiltration and support state absorption policies. Mass immigration from 1948 to the early , primarily from Arab countries such as , , and , as well as some from , repopulated the city, with many new arrivals housed in makeshift transit camps () before permanent settlement. By , Safed's population had grown to 7,900, reflecting Israel's broader policy of dispersing immigrants to peripheral areas like the to bolster demographic security and economic development. Subsequent waves, including from in the – and the former in the , further expanded the populace, reaching 13,100 by 1970 and continuing to rise toward modern figures exceeding 30,000, predominantly Jewish with a focus on religious and national-Zionist demographics. Economically, integration emphasized revival through , such as and , alongside handicrafts tied to the city's artisanal tradition, while emerged as a pillar by the , capitalizing on restored synagogues, Kabbalistic heritage sites, and an artists' quarter in the Old City. Infrastructure improvements, including road connections to central and basic utilities, supported this shift, though the peripheral location posed ongoing challenges like limited industrial scale compared to coastal hubs. Safed's municipal status was formalized as a , receiving state investments for housing and public services to foster self-sufficiency amid national priorities of population dispersal and border fortification.

Religious and Cultural Significance

Center of Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah

Safed became a preeminent center of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah during the 16th century, drawing scholars displaced by the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain and subsequent exiles from Portugal and North Africa. Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II's policies after 1516 facilitated Jewish resettlement in the Galilee, offering relative religious tolerance and economic stability that contrasted with European persecutions, transforming the modest town into a hub for esoteric Torah study. This era marked a shift in Kabbalistic centers from Iberia to Safed, where mystics synthesized medieval traditions like the Zohar with innovative interpretations amid communal isolation on Galilee's heights. Prominent figures anchored this golden age. Rabbi Moses Cordovero (1522–1570), dubbed the Ramak, founded a academy in Safed around 1550, authoring systematic treatises such as Pardes Rimonim (1580s compilation) that organized Zoharic symbolism into philosophical categories of divine emanations () and ethical . His disciple network included Rabbi (1488–1575), who composed the (1565) while engaging Kabbalistic practices, blending legal codification with mystical intent in Safed's study circles. Cordovero's rationalist approach emphasized intellectual comprehension of hidden layers, fostering a collegial environment that attracted over 20 major Kabbalists by mid-century. The arrival of Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Ari, in 1570 intensified Safed's influence, supplanting Cordovero's framework with Lurianic Kabbalah's mythic cosmology. Luria's doctrines, transmitted orally through disciple Hayyim Vital (1542–1620) in texts like Etz Hayyim, introduced concepts of primordial catastrophe (shevirat ha-kelim), divine contraction (), and human-led cosmic restoration (), framing exile as a metaphysical rupture requiring redemptive action. Historian interpreted this system as a theological response to post-expulsion Jewish trauma, infusing with messianic urgency that spread via Safed's emissaries to Europe and beyond, shaping Hasidism and modern Jewish thought. Despite Luria's brief two-year tenure, his ideas dominated subsequent , with Safed's synagogues and academies—such as those in the Ashkenazi and Sephardi quarters—serving as ritual sites for meditative practices like yihudim (unifications). Safed's Kabbalistic legacy persisted through print innovations, with local presses disseminating works like Karo's and Vital's, reaching Italian scholars who acknowledged the town's supremacy by the late . This concentration of talent, amid Galilee's ascetic terrain, yielded over 50 significant mystical texts, elevating Safed as the "city of " in Jewish lore, though later declines in population and scholarship shifted its role toward and .

Role in Jewish Holy Cities Tradition

Safed holds a distinguished place in Jewish tradition as one of the , collectively revered alongside , , and for their enduring spiritual significance in and practice. This quartet emerged in medieval , with roots traceable to Talmudic discussions of sacred sites, but Safed's inclusion crystallized in the amid a renaissance of following the in 1492. The tradition posits that residing in or supporting these cities yields unique spiritual rewards, including atonement and divine favor, as articulated in halakhic sources encouraging pilgrimage and charitable contributions to sustain scholarship there. In this framework, Safed symbolizes the element of air, reflecting its lofty elevation—reaching 937 meters above —and its role in elevating the soul through contemplative study, in contrast to Jerusalem's fire (Temple rituals), Hebron's earth (patriarchal tombs), and Tiberias's water (proximity to the Sea of ). This elemental association underscores Safed's mystical orientation, where the influx of Kabbalistic luminaries like in the mid-1500s transformed it into a hub for esoteric interpretation, drawing scholars who codified practices such as the prayer customs still observed globally. The city's holy status has sustained a continuous tradition of yeshivas and synagogues dedicated to , fostering a legacy of that persists today, with visitors seeking inspiration from sites linked to medieval and early modern sages. Despite periods of destruction, such as the 1837 earthquake that razed much of the community, rabbinic authorities reaffirmed Safed's sanctity, emphasizing its irreplaceable role in preserving mystical traditions amid broader Jewish dispersion. This enduring designation highlights causal links between geographic isolation, scholarly migration, and doctrinal innovation, rather than mere antiquity, distinguishing Safed's holiness from the biblical primacy of the other cities.

Interfaith Historical Interactions

During the Ottoman era, Safed hosted a diverse of , , and a small number of Christians, governed under the millet system that granted religious communities semi-autonomous administration while subjecting non-Muslims to protections and taxes. This framework facilitated a degree of coexistence, with comprising a significant minority engaged in trade, scholarship, and mysticism alongside Muslim majorities in agriculture and governance. However, underlying tensions over taxation, land, and religious status periodically surfaced, as evidenced by joint Jewish-Muslim resistance to Egyptian occupation in the early before fracturing along communal lines. A major rupture occurred during the 1834 Peasants' Revolt against Egyptian rule under , when Arab Muslim villagers from surrounding areas laid siege to Safed's quarter for 33 days starting in late June. The attackers looted over 1,000 homes, destroyed four synagogues, and killed or wounded numerous , driven by a mix of anti-tax rebellion and religious animosity targeting the Jewish population as perceived Egyptian collaborators. Egyptian forces eventually quelled the uprising, but the events highlighted fragile interfaith relations, with no reciprocal protection from local Muslim leaders. Tensions escalated further in the British Mandate period, culminating in the , where Arab assaults on Safed's Jewish neighborhoods on August 29-30 resulted in 18-22 Jewish deaths, over 80 injuries, and the burning of the main Jewish street, including synagogues and residences. Sparked by rumors and disputes over Jerusalem's , the violence involved local Arabs and some Syrian infiltrators, overwhelming British police responses and exposing deep-seated communal divides. , though few in Safed, largely avoided direct involvement, while communities in the broader region maintained neutrality or opportunistic alliances amid such upheavals. These episodes underscored a pattern of intermittent harmony disrupted by targeted anti-Jewish pogroms rather than mutual interfaith collaboration.

Demographics and Society

Population Evolution

In the mid-16th century, during the Ottoman Empire's prosperity in the region, Safed's Jewish population expanded to approximately 10,000 residents, fueled by immigration from , , and following the expulsions of , establishing the city as a hub of scholarship and mysticism. This growth contributed to a total urban population estimated in the range of 15,000 to 20,000 by the late 1500s, though subsequent events like the 1660 Druze revolt led to significant depopulation, reducing the Jewish community to a few hundred families. By the early , recovery brought the Jewish population to around 6,000 by 1836, but the Galilee earthquake of January 1, 1837, devastated the city, killing an estimated 5,000 people—about 4,000 of them —and displacing survivors amid widespread destruction of stone buildings on unstable slopes. Rebuilding was slow, with the Jewish community shrinking to roughly 2,000 immediately after the disaster; Ottoman records from 1879 indicate a total population of 15,008, including 8,000 , suggesting a modest rebound with and comprising the remainder. Under the British Mandate, the 1922 census recorded Safed's total population at 8,760, comprising 5,431 Muslims, 2,986 , and 343 , reflecting a Muslim majority amid tensions that escalated into the 1929 riots, which killed 18–20 but did not drastically alter immediate demographics. By the late Mandate period, the population hovered around 12,000, with a non-Jewish majority; the 1948 Arab-Israeli War resulted in the flight or expulsion of nearly all (estimated at over 9,000), leaving a Jewish population of about 2,000–2,500 that rapidly grew through from and Arab countries. Post-independence integration into spurred sustained growth, driven by state policies encouraging settlement in the and waves of Jewish immigrants, including from and the in the 1950s–1960s. By 2008, the population reached 29,600, nearly all Jewish, expanding to 37,472 by 2021 amid natural increase and , though the city faces ongoing challenges like peripheral location and socioeconomic factors limiting faster .

Ethnic and Religious Composition

Safed's population is overwhelmingly Jewish, comprising approximately 92% of residents as of recent estimates, with the remainder consisting of Arabs (primarily Muslim) and other non-Jewish groups. In 2021, out of a total population of 37,472, Jews numbered 34,434 (91.9%), Arabs 780 (about 2.1%), and other ethnic groups 2,258 (6%). By 2023, the city's population had grown to 39,179, maintaining a similar ethnic distribution. The Arab presence, historically negligible after the 1948 war when the pre-existing Muslim majority fled or was displaced, has seen modest growth due to commuting students attending local institutions like Safed Academic College, where nearly 70% of students are non-Jewish. Within the Jewish majority, ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) residents form a substantial portion, estimated at around 70% of the , contributing to the city's as a of religious and observance. This Haredi dominance reflects broader trends in Israeli demographics, where such communities exhibit higher rates—averaging 6-7 children per woman compared to the national Jewish average of about 3—driving local . The Jewish includes a mix of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi origins, with historical influxes from North African and Middle Eastern countries post-1948 bolstering Mizrahi communities, though precise subgroup percentages are not officially tracked at the municipal level. Non-Haredi Jews, including secular and national-religious residents, maintain artistic and educational enclaves, particularly in the Old City and artists' quarter. Religiously, the city lacks significant non-Jewish communities beyond the small Arab Muslim contingent; Christians and other minorities are minimal, with no dedicated Arab Christian population noted in recent data. Tensions occasionally arise between the Haredi majority and Arab students, including reports of harassment, though coexistence efforts persist amid the transient nature of the Arab presence. This composition underscores Safed's evolution from a multi-ethnic Ottoman-era settlement—where formed the majority alongside Jewish and minorities—to a predominantly Jewish, religiously conservative hub following Israel's .

Socioeconomic Characteristics

Safed's socioeconomic indicators lag behind national averages, influenced by its peripheral location in northern and a substantial ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) that prioritizes religious study over secular participation. The Central Bureau of Statistics' socio-economic index places several Safed neighborhoods in the lowest clusters (1-4 out of 10), reflecting diminished metrics in , quality, , and compared to urban centers like , which ranks in cluster 10. Educational attainment remains low, particularly among younger adults; in 2016, just 12.0% of Safed residents aged 20-29 were enrolled as undergraduates at universities (5.5%) or academic colleges (6.5%), far below national figures driven by higher secular enrollment elsewhere. This correlates with limited access to high-skill jobs, as Haredi communities emphasize study for men, reducing overall labor force engagement. , proxied by job seekers as a of the , reached 8.2% in November 2016, exceeding typical national rates during economic expansions. The economy centers on , leveraging Safed's status as a Kabbalistic hub and artists' colony to generate seasonal jobs in , guiding, and crafts sales, alongside roles and modest . Average incomes trail Israel's median, exacerbating concentrated in large Haredi families; northern data, encompassing Safed, indicate 22.5% of families below the poverty line as of 2023, sustained by welfare dependencies amid low male in religious cohorts. subsidies mitigate but do not fully offset structural challenges from geographic isolation and demographic composition.

Governance and Infrastructure

Municipal Administration and Mayors

Tzfat is governed by a municipal authority established following the city's incorporation into in 1948, operating under Israel's Local Authorities Law (Municipalities) of 1968, which delineates responsibilities for services including , , , and . The executive is led by a elected directly by popular vote for a five-year term, who holds authority over administrative appointments and policy implementation, while the legislative city council, elected via from party lists, approves budgets and ordinances. Elections occur concurrently with national municipal polls, with the most recent held on , 2024. The first Jewish mayor post-independence was Moshe Pedhatzur, appointed in 1948 amid the resettlement of Jewish refugees after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War displaced the prior Arab majority administration. Pedhatzur, a local leader, focused on rebuilding infrastructure and fostering the artists' colony to revitalize the economy. Subsequent mayors reflected the city's diverse immigrant populations from , , and the , often navigating factional politics among Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and religious groups. Ilan Shohat served as mayor from 2008 to 2018, initially aligned with before running independently; his tenure included infrastructure projects but ended amid a 2017 bribery investigation involving municipal contracts, leading to his detention alongside officials, though charges were later dropped or unresolved in public records. succeeded him in 2018, emphasizing traffic improvements and , such as installing the city's first at Birya Junction in 2019. Yossi Kakon, representing the party, was elected mayor in 2024 with 52.5% of the vote, defeating and marking the first time a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) candidate led the city, amid growing religious demographic influence. Kakon's platform prioritizes security enhancements against northern threats and heritage preservation, as evidenced by his September 2024 discussions with Netanyahu on restoring normalcy post-Hezbollah escalations.

Education System

Safed's education system aligns with Israel's national framework, offering compulsory from (age 3) through grade 12 (age 18), with a pronounced emphasis on due to the city's historical and ongoing role as a center of and . The municipality oversees local schools, including state, state-religious, and independent institutions, many of which integrate alongside core subjects like , sciences, and languages; the local education office handles administration and support services. Approximately 25 schools serve around 7,000 s, reflecting a student body predominantly from religious Jewish families, with programs designed to retain in the amid its peripheral and spiritual focus. Religious education dominates, featuring numerous yeshivas for boys and seminaries (ulpanot) for girls that prioritize Talmudic and Kabbalistic learning. Notable institutions include , a high school blending and secular curricula for adolescents; Beit Chana, established in 1977 for the Lubavitch community, providing comprehensive Judaic and ; and Tzidkat Rashbi's Girls' , emphasizing alongside mathematics and other subjects. Specialized programs address retention challenges, such as the With A Heart, created to educate young boys locally rather than sending them elsewhere, and , offering rigorous academics for children of emissaries with small class sizes. English-speaking options like Yeshivas Temimei Darech cater to international students seeking foundational Jewish in a mystical setting. Higher education in Safed includes the Zefat Academic College, a public institution offering undergraduate and graduate programs in fields like business, education, and social sciences, accredited independently by Israel's Council for Higher Education. The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine at , founded in 2011, addresses regional physician shortages through a four-year MD program focused on in the , training students via clinical rotations in underserved areas. These institutions contribute to local socioeconomic development by expanding access to advanced studies without requiring relocation.

Economic Activities

Safed's economy centers on , leveraging the city's status as a center of , historic synagogues, and an artists' colony to attract domestic and international visitors. Local employment in this sector includes hospitality services, tour guiding, and retail of artisanal goods such as jewelry, paintings, and ceramics produced in the Artists' Quarter. In 2015, influxes of tourists spurred activity and broader , though seasonal fluctuations affect hotel operations, with many facilities active primarily during summer months. Light industry and small-scale manufacturing supplement tourism, encompassing production of items like beeswax candles and gourmet cheeses from local dairy operations. These activities tie into the region's agricultural outputs, including olives and sheep milk, processed for export and domestic sale. Educational institutions, notably a college drawing Arab students from nearby villages, generate jobs in teaching, administration, and student services, contributing to a mixed landscape amid the city's peripheral status. High-tech employment exists but has declined in the Tzfat sub-district since 2023, reflecting geographic isolation and security issues from northern border conflicts. Over the past three decades, shifts in population composition toward Haredi and residents have altered structures, correlating with a drop in the city's socioeconomic index from cluster 4 to lower levels, emphasizing reliance on service-oriented and informal sectors over advanced industry.

Arts, Culture, and Heritage

Artists' Colony and Creative Scene

Safed's Artists' Quarter originated in the early when Israeli artists began settling in the city's historic stone buildings, attracted by its elevated position offering unique light and its association with . Yitzhak Frenkel first visited in 1920, establishing a presence that drew subsequent artists including Moshe Castel and Mordechai Levanon during the 1930s. By the 1940s, figures such as Ziona Tagger, Shimshon Holtzman, Yitzhak Amitai, and Aryeh Merzer had opened studios in the area, which was then part of the pre-state Jewish community. Following Israel's War of Independence in , the Artists' Colony formalized in the vacated structures of the old Muslim quarter, repurposed into workshops and galleries amid the city's repopulation by Jewish immigrants. Founding members including Yitzhak Frenkel, Moshe Castel, and others settled shortly after statehood, transforming the narrow, winding 16th-century streets into a creative hub that became one of Israel's first official artists' colonies by 1950. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it served as a major center of Israeli art, with colony artists like Frenkel and Castel gaining international recognition for works blending local landscapes, biblical motifs, and modernist techniques. This development played a key role in early Israeli art. The creative scene encompasses diverse media, including oil and watercolor paintings, , ceramics, handmade jewelry, silverwork, , and Judaica items often infused with Kabbalistic symbolism reflective of Safed's spiritual heritage. Galleries line the quarter's alleys, showcasing both historical influences from pioneers like David Gilboa and contemporary local artisans such as glassblower Moshe Cohen and silversmith Doron Cohen. The colony continues to attract and host Israeli and Jewish artists, sustaining a vibrant output tied to the city's artistic tradition without reliance on institutional subsidies.

Musical Traditions and Festivals

Safed's musical traditions are deeply rooted in Jewish heritage, particularly the instrumental styles associated with Ashkenazi communities from , where ensembles historically provided music for lifecycle events such as weddings and holidays. , deriving from the term for "vessel of song," features lively rhythms, leads, and improvisations evoking both joy and melancholy, often performed without vocals to accompany dances and rituals. In Safed, these traditions intersect with the city's Kabbalistic legacy, incorporating elements of Hasidic nigunim—wordless melodies used for spiritual elevation during prayer and gatherings in local synagogues. The preeminent festival celebrating these traditions is the annual Safed Klezmer Festival, established in 1987 and held over three evenings in late August, such as August 26–28 in 2025. This free event transforms the Old City's alleys and courtyards into eight open-air stages, hosting ensembles that blend classical with contemporary interpretations, alongside workshops on instruments like the and tsimbl. Family-oriented activities, including and participatory performances, draw thousands, emphasizing 's role in preserving Ashkenazi amid Safed's diverse Jewish populace. Complementing klezmer, Safed hosts the Ladino Festival each summer, focusing on Sephardic musical heritage through songs in the Judeo-Spanish language, reflecting the city's historical influx of Spanish Jewish exiles in the 16th century. Performances feature ballads and piyyutim—liturgical poems set to melody—performed in historic venues, highlighting vocal traditions distinct from klezmer's instrumental focus. These events underscore Safed's syncretic soundscape, where Ashkenazi and Sephardic influences converge, supported by the municipality's promotion of cultural tourism without reliance on state-subsidized narratives.

Museums and Historic Sites

The Citadel of Safed, known as HaMetzuda, occupies the highest point in the city and has served as a strategic fortress throughout history, with evidence of settlement dating back to approximately 66 BCE. Originally fortified by the Crusaders in 1168, it was captured by in 1188, later rebuilt under rule in the 13th century, and strengthened by the Ottomans in the before being seized by Israeli forces during the 1948 War of Independence. Today, the site features a to residents killed in the 1948 conflict, landscaped gardens established in 1950, and panoramic views of the region. Safed's Old City preserves numerous historic synagogues from the , reflecting the influx of Jewish exiles from and the city's role as a center of Kabbalistic study. The Abuhav Synagogue, named for 15th-century Spanish kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Abuhav, incorporates architectural elements aligned with Kabbalistic principles, such as its bimah positioned to evoke the . The Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue, constructed in the by Sephardic immigrants from , commemorates Rabbi (the Ari), whose mystical teachings originated nearby; it was rebuilt after the 1837 earthquake. Adjacent, the Ari Sephardic Synagogue, referenced in historical records as early as 1522, served as a primary site for Luria's prayers and studies, enduring reconstructions following the 1759 and 1837 earthquakes. Other notable synagogues include the Yosef Caro Synagogue, originally established in the 16th century as a study house and rebuilt post-1759 earthquake, honoring the author of the . The Davidka Memorial commemorates the use of a homemade mortar during the defense of Safed, symbolizing local ingenuity in repelling attacks. Beit Hameiri Museum, housed in a multi-story stone structure partially dating to the 17th century, documents the Jewish community's daily life, customs, and economic activities in Safed from the 18th to mid-20th centuries through artifacts, photographs, and recreated interiors. Founded by local historian Yehezkel Hameiri (1934–1989), it includes exhibits on Sephardic rabbinical courts that operated in its halls during the mid-19th century. The Memorial Museum of Hungarian-Speaking Jewry, established in 1986 and opened to the public in 1990, preserves artifacts and testimonies from Hungarian Jewish immigrants who settled in Safed, highlighting their cultural contributions.

Security Challenges and Controversies

Perspectives on 1948 War Events

The Battle of Safed occurred during Operation Yiftach, a offensive launched on April 30, 1948, aimed at capturing the strategically vital town in eastern amid the phase preceding Israel's independence declaration. Prior to the operation, Safed's Jewish population of around 1,500 faced severe numerical disadvantage, outnumbered approximately ten-to-one by the 12,000-strong Arab majority, with Arab irregulars launching attacks on the Jewish Quarter as early as January 5, 1948, and ambushing a Jewish bus convoy in February. By mid-April, Arab forces, numbering about 600 including local and volunteers, had occupied significant portions of the city, intensifying the siege on Jewish areas. The decisive assault on Safed unfolded between May 9 and 11, 1948, involving units employing mortars, small arms, and house-to-house combat to overrun defenses, including the fortified police station. Following the fall of surrounding villages like Ein al-Zeitun—where reports of atrocities contributed to widespread panic—thousands of residents fled northward toward or were displaced during the fighting, leaving the city under Jewish control by May 11. Post-battle, Israeli authorities did not permit returning civilians, resulting in the near-total depopulation of Safed's community, with properties subsequently repurposed or confiscated under absentee legislation. From the Israeli perspective, the capture represented a critical defensive necessity to break the stranglehold on , secure supply routes, and prevent Safed from serving as a launchpad for further incursions into Jewish settlements, framed as a response to prior aggression rather than premeditated . Historians aligned with this view, such as those documenting operations, emphasize that Jewish broadcasts urged to remain and that flight was primarily driven by collapse of defenses and fear of reprisals amid the broader war dynamics. Palestinian and Arab narratives portray the events as integral to the Nakba, attributing the exodus to coordinated expulsion under , psychological warfare, and direct military pressure, with the fall of Safed exemplifying systematic dispossession despite local Arab resistance efforts. Accounts from Palestinian sources highlight the influx of Arab fighters as a defensive mobilization against Zionist expansion, while critiquing the lack of unified command and alleging looting and denial of return as evidence of intentional demographic engineering, though empirical analyses like those by indicate no centralized expulsion policy but rather ad hoc decisions by field commanders amid chaotic combat. This divergence underscores ongoing historiographical debates, where Arab sources often prioritize legitimacy of resistance narratives over archival scrutiny of internal military shortcomings.

Arab-Israeli Territorial Claims

In the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan (Resolution 181), the territory including Safed was allocated to the proposed , as part of the western and regions designated to ensure the new state's strategic contiguity, access to water resources, and defensive viability against potential encirclement. This assignment persisted despite the plan's overall allocation of approximately 56% of Mandatory 's land to the , which housed about 33% of the population and owned roughly 7% of the land at the time. Arab leaders, representing the Higher Arab Committee and neighboring states, rejected the plan outright on December 1, 1947, citing violations of principles given the Arab majority across (about 67% of the population) and arguing that partition rewarded Zionist immigration and land purchases with disproportionate territory. The ensuing civil war in late 1947 transitioned into the 1948 Arab-Israeli War following Israel's independence declaration on May 14, 1948, and invasions by , , , , and . Israeli forces under Operation Yiftah captured Safed from local Arab militias and irregulars between May 10 and 11, 1948, after weeks of siege and skirmishes that displaced much of the town's Arab inhabitants—estimated at over 10,000 prior to the fighting—amid reports of mutual atrocities and fear of massacre. The 1949 Armistice Agreements with and formalized Safed's inclusion within Israel's de facto borders (the Green Line), territories internationally recognized as sovereign Israeli land by the UN and most states, distinct from post-1967 occupied areas. Palestinian territorial assertions regarding Safed stem primarily from the broader claim to as indivisible Arab land, framed in the Nakba narrative of 1948 dispossession, where refugees from Safed and surrounding villages seek implementation of UN Resolution 194's to pre-war properties. The original charter (1964, amended 1968) explicitly rejected Israel's existence and claimed all of , including Safed, but the 1988 and mutual recognition with under implicitly endorsed a two-state solution along 1967 lines, ceding formal territorial demands on pre-1967 Israeli areas like Safed. Irredentist factions, such as , maintain maximalist claims to the entire historic territory via their 1988 charter (partially moderated in 2017), viewing Safed's incorporation as illegitimate conquest rather than lawful defensive acquisition post-rejection of partition. These positions lack legal traction under , which upholds Israel's acquisition through accepted partition and repelled , though claims persist politically without altering Safed's undisputed status.

Recent Hezbollah Conflicts and Resilience

Following the Hamas-led attack on southern on , 2023, initiated cross-border hostilities on October 8, 2023, launching rockets and anti-tank missiles toward northern in stated solidarity with Hamas, with Safed repeatedly targeted due to its proximity to and hosting of IDF Northern Command headquarters. Over the ensuing months, fired thousands of projectiles into the region, including barrages specifically aimed at Safed, such as approximately 80 rockets on September 26, 2024, and dozens more on September 25, 2024, one of which directly struck a residential home. These attacks caused , injuries, and at least one fatality in Safed—a killed and eight others wounded in a February 14, 2024, barrage that struck the city center—while interceptions mitigated many impacts but not all. The assaults prompted widespread evacuations across northern , displacing over 60,000 residents by April 2024, including a substantial portion from Safed and surrounding communities, as orders urged departure amid daily threats. Safed's , historically around 36,000, saw significant outflows, leaving neighborhoods partially depopulated and local services strained, though the city's elevated terrain and existing shelters provided some protection for those who remained. In response, intensified airstrikes on infrastructure in , culminating in targeted assassinations of senior commanders and a ground incursion into starting October 1, 2024, aimed at dismantling launch sites and command nodes threatening northern communities like Safed. These operations degraded 's rocket capabilities, reducing launch volumes by late 2024. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect on November 27, 2024, mandating Hezbollah's withdrawal north of the and Israeli troop pullback, though violations persisted initially. Safed residents exhibited notable resilience throughout, with many attributing their steadfastness to the city's deep religious and cultural roots as a center of and , fostering a of divine and communal ; following the February 2024 attack, locals quickly resumed daily routines, with one resident stating, "This is Safed... you don't up and leave." Post-ceasefire, returns have been gradual and cautious, incentivized by government aid but hampered by lingering fears of renewed barrages and incomplete Hezbollah disarmament, leaving parts of northern , including Safed's outskirts, as semi-abandoned zones into 2025. By mid-2025, enhanced border security and Hezbollah's weakened arsenal have enabled partial normalization, underscoring Safed's historical pattern of rebounding from conflicts dating back to 2006.

References

  1. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/safed
  2. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6563171/jewish/17-Facts-You-Should-Know-About-Safed.htm
  3. https://www.citypopulation.de/en/israel/admin/hazafon/8000__zefat/
  4. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4484169/jewish/Safed-Tzfat.htm
  5. https://www.safed-home.com/safedhistory.html
  6. https://jimcowie.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Safed.pdf
  7. https://www.zissil.com/topics/Safed
  8. https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12990-safed
  9. https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/book/the-new-encyclopedia-of-archaeological-excavations-in-the-holy-land/safed/
  10. https://latitude.to/map/il/israel/cities/safed
  11. https://en-us.topographic-map.com/map-dg6b3l/Safed/
  12. https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/map-s5blb3/Safed/
  13. https://weatherspark.com/y/99089/Average-Weather-in-Safed-Israel-Year-Round
  14. https://safed.co.il/weather/
  15. https://ims.gov.il/en/ClimateAtlas
  16. https://www.worlddata.info/asia/israel/climate.php
  17. https://www.usgs.gov/programs/cmhrp/news/imaging-israels-dead-sea-fault-understand-how-continents-stretch-and-rift
  18. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022TC007247
  19. https://deadseaquake.info/EarthquakeCatalogOfTheDeadSea/Sites/Landslides/Safed.html
  20. https://zadok.org/research/1927/landslides.html
  21. https://hayadan.com/history-of-earthquakes-in-israel-120204
  22. https://mzohar.haifa.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Zohar-et-al-2017-earthquake-damage-in-Israel-TECTO.pdf
  23. https://thinkhazard.org/en/report/121-israel/EQ
  24. https://www.haaretz.com/2007-12-05/ty-article/in-the-case-of-an-earthquake-its-better-not-to-be-in-safed/0000017f-e4cc-d38f-a57f-e6de44580000
  25. https://safed.co.il/seismic-events/
  26. https://www.actuaries.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/02_Modelling_EQ_Risk_in_Israel.pdf
  27. https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/links-to-earthquake-articles/he/g.pdf
  28. https://thewayinn.co.il/safed-sights/
  29. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/war-2.html
  30. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/abstract/document/obo-9780199840731/obo-9780199840731-0030.xml
  31. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/historical-sites-of-safed
  32. https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2019-11-25/ty-article-magazine/.premium/massive-mamluk-destruction-found-at-crusader-castle-in-israel/0000017f-dc71-df62-a9ff-dcf71a380000
  33. https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/safed/
  34. https://www.morasha.com.br/en/history-of-israel/safed-the-holy-city.html
  35. https://www.aish.com/48954226/
  36. https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-10-08/ty-article/.premium/this-day-safed-jews-transferred/0000017f-e010-d3a5-af7f-f2be16fe0000
  37. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ottoman-rule-1517-1917
  38. https://www.zissil.com/topics/Ottoman-Rule-of-Safed-1760-to-1918
  39. https://www.fondapol.org/en/study/pogroms-in-palestine-before-the-creation-of-the-state-of-israel-1830-1948/
  40. https://www.jewishrefugees.org.uk/2024/04/the-roots-of-7-october-are-in-the-pogroms-of-1834.html
  41. https://www.rootsmetals.com/blogs/news/a-history-of-pogroms-in-palestine
  42. https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire/The-Tanzimat-reforms-1839-76
  43. https://www.israelhistory.info/part-7-egyptian-ottoman-occupation
  44. https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1648001
  45. https://www.nytimes.com/1929/08/31/archives/arabs-burn-city-of-safed-22-killed-scores-wounded-syrians-invade.html
  46. https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/middle-eastnorth-africapersian-gulf-region/british-palestine-1917-1948/
  47. https://ascentofsafed.com/cgi-bin/ascent.cgi?Name=544-34
  48. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/battle-for-safad-in-the-war-of-1948-a-revised-study/E85B4E4210CD6D5329C5C26849DFC9DA
  49. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/operation-ldquo-yiftach-rdquo-april-1948
  50. https://www.palmach.org.il/en/history/database/?itemId=5793
  51. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3880136
  52. https://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/07/the-invisible-history-of-safed.html
  53. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scholem/
  54. http://www.betemunah.org/kabbalah-gershom-scholem.pdf
  55. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/83771/jewish/Rabbi-Moshe-Cordovero.htm
  56. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/isaac-luria-kabbalah-in-safed/
  57. https://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Moses_Cordovero.html
  58. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/history/articles/safed-kabbalah-and-renaissance-italy
  59. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3656661/jewish/Four-Holy-Cities-of-Israel-What-and-Why.htm
  60. https://www.lubavitch.com/mystic-mountain-safed-city-of-sages-seekers-and-soul/
  61. https://www.safed-home.com/historyofsafed.html
  62. https://www.aish.com/tzfat-the-city-of-air-and-kabbalah/
  63. https://digitalprojects.palestine-studies.org/resources/special-focus/ottoman-palestine
  64. https://histclo.com/essay/war/ip/ott/safed1834.html
  65. https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/1349
  66. https://www.galilandgolan.com/all-about-safed
  67. https://www.australianjewishnews.com/the-tzfat-quake-that-killed-5000/
  68. https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/77998
  69. https://www.zochrot.org/villages/village_details/49441/en?Safad__Tzfat_city_
  70. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-06-24/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/as-safed-becomes-a-mixed-arab-and-haredi-city-friction-and-coexistence-ensue/00000188-e9e7-d5fc-ab9d-fbefae4f0000
  71. https://momentmag.com/ilan-berman-iran-knesset-haredi-draft/
  72. https://www.taubcenter.org.il/en/research/demography-2024/
  73. https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/08/18/tel-aviv-tops-socio-economic-index-jerusalem-slips-to-near-bottom/
  74. https://adva.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/SocialReport2016-EN.pdf
  75. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-12-19/ty-article/.premium/unchanged-despite-14-months-of-war-israels-poverty-rate-is-second-worst-in-oecd/00000193-db6d-da9e-a997-fbff13d50000
  76. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/385953
  77. https://pedhatzur.com/history-of-zefat/
  78. https://www.timesofisrael.com/safed-mayor-and-officials-detained-on-bribery-charges/
  79. https://www.timesofisrael.com/northern-city-of-safed-gets-its-first-traffic-light/
  80. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396222
  81. https://www.taubcenter.org.il/en/research/education-system-2024/
  82. https://www.safed-home.com/educationintzfat.html
  83. https://rosenhebrewschool.com/blog/facts-about-safed/
  84. https://safed.co.il/yeshiva-torat-chaim/
  85. https://naale-elite-academy.com/beit-chana/
  86. https://www.rashbi.org/programs
  87. https://safed.co.il/school-with-a-heart/
  88. https://www.lubavitch.com/children-of-shluchim-a-yeshiva-of-their-own/
  89. https://temimeidarech.org/
  90. https://www.israel-scitech-schools.com/ists-network-welcomes-safed-academic-college-to-the-network/
  91. https://afbiu.org/azrielli-school-of-medicine-in-the-galilee
  92. https://biuinternational.com/news/the-azrieli-faculty-of-medicine-in-safed-is-expanding/
  93. https://sellingisrael.com/tzfat/
  94. https://www.jpost.com/metro/neighborhood-watch-regenerating-safed-421277
  95. https://www.judaica.com/jliving/safed-candles.html
  96. https://www.taubcenter.org.il/en/research/high-tech-employment-2025/
  97. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363566745_Peripheral_City_Development_Challenges_-_Case_Study_of_Zfat
  98. https://safed.co.il/category/galleries-and-artists/artists/
  99. http://zissil.com/topics/Galleries-and-Artists-of-Safed
  100. https://www.beinharimtours.com/artists-colony/
  101. https://mydailyartdisplay.uk/tag/safed-artists-colony/
  102. https://academic.oup.com/book/36373/chapter/319937295
  103. https://www.touristisrael.com/safeds-artists-quarter/5693/
  104. https://www.worldjewishtravel.org/listing/artists-quarter/
  105. https://safed.co.il/tzfats-artist-quarter/
  106. https://safed.co.il/klezmer-101/
  107. https://www.touristisrael.com/safed-klezmer-festival/7125/
  108. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8PTozUWuqw
  109. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-754538
  110. https://www.safednofesh.com/en/around-us/safed-klezmer-festival
  111. https://www.kkl-jnf.org/?catid=%257B67233e88-65fb-4b11-8fe7-56acbbbfe17b%257D
  112. https://www.safed-home.com/tzfatladinofestival.html
  113. https://www.worldjewishtravel.org/listing/ladino-festival/
  114. https://planitisrael.com/blog/6-enticing-festivals-of-israel/
  115. https://www.safed-home.com/historicalsitesofsafed.html
  116. https://www.touristisrael.com/safed-citadel/6708/
  117. https://www.beinharimtours.com/abuhav-synagogue/
  118. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-haari-synagogues
  119. https://theoldcityinn.com/synagogues/
  120. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g297763-Activities-c47-t17-Safed_Galilee_Region_Northern_District.html
  121. https://www.timeout.com/israel/museums/beit-hameiri
  122. https://shimur.org/sites/beit-hameiri-museum-in-safed/?lang=en
  123. https://www.zimmeril.com/sSearch_ENact.asp?Acat=5
  124. https://pal48.ps/en/nakba/70/safad-battle
  125. https://safed.co.il/safed-the-key-to-the-north-in-1948/
  126. https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650358
  127. https://israeled.org/avraham-sela-arab-historiography-of-the-1948-war-the-quest-for-legitimacy/
  128. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/map-of-the-u-n-partition-plan
  129. https://www.un.org/unispal/history/
  130. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/arab-israeli-war
  131. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/myths-facts-partition-and-the-war-of-1948
  132. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-hits-israel-with-heavy-rocket-barrages-anti-tank-missile-attacks/
  133. https://www.yahoo.com/news/hezbollah-fires-80-rockets-israeli-180347224.html
  134. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/tygahaa70
  135. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-safed-a-deadly-rocket-salvo-fails-to-rattle-deeply-rooted-residents/
  136. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gj544x65o
  137. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/01/middleeast/israel-ground-incursion-lebanon-explainer-intl-hnk
  138. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/so-far-so-good-israel-lebanon-ceasefire-largely-holding
  139. https://www.timesofisrael.com/despite-israel-hezbollah-ceasefire-deal-northern-residents-fear-returning-home/
  140. https://www.jta.org/2024/12/13/israel/despite-ceasefire-residents-of-northern-israel-are-wary-of-return-fearing-another-oct-7
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.