Tsfat (also spelled Tzfat, Safed, Tsfas, Zafed, Tzfas, Zefat, Zfat, Safed, Safes, Safet, etc.) Is One Of The Four Holy Cities In The Land Of Israel As Mentioned In Many Holy Writings. As Well, The Town Has Long Since Been The Capital Of Northern Israel.
Tsfat has much to offer its residents and visitors alike with it's Torah Learning Centers, Music Festivals, Art Galleries, Historic Tours, Diverse Culture and Prime Location.The Holy Town Of Tsfat with a growing population of over 35,000 residents has over the centuries become the de facto center for learning the mystical secrets of the Torah. Once in the old city, any lay person can sense that this is where a tremendous amount of the G-dly Presence dwells. For many centuries and to this day, the small mountain top community founded thousands of years ago, has been the center for mystical and esoteric teachings of the Torah, also known as Kabbalah.
In the 16th century, the famous Kabbalists, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria also known as Ha-Ari HaKadosh, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, author of Lecha Dodi, Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch and Rabbi Cordovera, original compiler of the Zohar just to name a few in blessed memory, made Tsfat their home and thereby made the town world famous from their wealth of mystical teachings. Their grave sites are visited year round by masses of people at what may be the most famous Jewish cemetery in the world, a place where dozens upon dozens of Tzadikim ("Righteous Ones") are buried, may their memory be a blessing for the children of Israel forever.
So old is the heritage of Torah study in Tsfat that even the first center of Torah learning ever recorded remains a point of interest right in the center of town, where none other than Shem and Ever, Noah's son and grandson, had established their yeshiva and in that very place the Patriarch of the Jewish people, Jacob the son of Isaac, studied for many years.
Today’s old quarter houses dozens of Yeshivas and Ritual Baths. As well, Tsfat boasts a flourishing Art Scene with dozens upon dozens of galleries and artist workshops. As a top tourist destination, visitors to the holy land gain unique perspective into the variety of cultural sights, flavors and aromas from the wide spectrum of fashion, foods and lifestyles. Every year, the Tsfat Klezmer Music Festival draws tens of thousands of visitors exemplifying the musical traditions of the Jewish people. These crowds are dwarfed in comparison to the visitors during Lag Ba’Omer, when over half a million Israeli residents and tourists alike flock to visit the resting place of the Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai Z"L, for a spiritual experience like no other.
Resting 3200 feet above sea level in the mountains of the Upper Galilee, Tsfat is the most elevated and coldest city in Israel. The views from in town provide breath taking panoramas of the Golan and Mount Hermon in the North to Mt. Meron, Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee in the south. According to the great mystics that called it home, Tsfat is destined to usher in the final redemption as quoted in Meam Loez in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. "The Messiah will come from Tsfat on his way to Jerusalem," which is supported by Rabbi Luria, The Ari HaKodesh's claim." Until the Third Temple is built, G-d's Manifest Presence rests above Tsfat." As mentioned above, this can and is easily felt by all those that live and come for a visit.