Safed
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| Safed | |
| Hebrew | צְפַת |
| Arabic | صفد |
| Name meaning | "Lookout" (from the Hebrew root "tzafa") |
| Government | City |
| Also spelled | Tsfat, Tzefat, Zfat, Ẕefat (officially) |
| District | North |
| Population | 35,000 (2008) |
| Jurisdiction | 40 000 dunams |
| Mayor | Yishai Maimon |
Safed (Hebrew: צְפַת, pronounced Tsfat; Arabic: صفد, pronounced Safad) is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Safed is one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron, and a center for Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. It is the highest city in Israel. [1]
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[edit] History
[edit] Antiquity and Middle Ages
Safed is not mentioned in the Bible. The Canaanite city of Zephath (Judges 1:17) is located in southern, rather than northern, Israel. There is a legend that Safed was founded by a son of Noah after the great flood. Safed is sometimes identified with Sepph, a fortified Jewish town in the Upper Galilee mentioned in the writings of the Roman Jewish historian Josephus (Wars 2:573). It was mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud as one of five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the New Moon and festivals during the period of the Second Temple. [2]
In 1265, the mamluk sultan, Baybars, completely annihilated the population of Safed--which consisted of the Knights Templar--and consequently repopulated the town with families from Damascus, along with some mamluks and their families.
In 1289, it is said that the chief rabbi of Safed, Moses ben Judah ha-Cohen, went to Tiberias to pay homage to Rambam.
In the early 16th century, the Ottoman Empire under Selim I conquered Palestine. Under the Ottomans, Safed was part of the vilayet of Sidon.
In 1491, mention is made that the rabbi in the town had to supplement his income through a grocery market. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many prominent rabbis found their way to Safed, which became the key center for Jewish mysticism, known as Kabbalah. Among the prominent kabbalists who made their home in Safed were Isaac Luria (Arizal) and Moshe Kordovero. Besides the kabbalists, Safed also attracted numerous other Jewish scholars and spirtualists, including Joseph Caro, the author of the Shulchan Aruch and Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, composer of the Sabbath hymn Lecha Dodi. The influx of Sephardi Jews made Safed a global center for Jewish learning and a regional center for trade throughout 15th and 16th centuries.
A Hebrew printing press is established in Safed in 1577 by Eliezer Ashkenazi and his son, Isaac of Prague. [3] It was the first press in Palestine and the whole of the Ottoman Empire.[4] It was also the first printing press of any kind in Asia.
The 8,000 or 10,000 Jews in Safed in 1555 grew to 20,000 or 30,000 by the end of the century.
[edit] Rejuvenation, Plagues and earthquakes
A plague in 1742 and an earthquake in 1759 led to a decline of the Jewish community in Safed, leaving only seven families at its nadir. An influx of Russian Jews in 1776 and 1781, and of the Perushim in 1809 and 1810 reinvigorated the community.[5]
In 1812, another plague killed an estimated 80% of the Jewish population, and in 1819 the remaining Jews were held for ransom by Abdallah Pasha, the governor of Acre. On January 1, 1837, an earthquake killed 4,000 Jewish inhabitants, mostly by burying them in their homes. In 1847, plague struck Safed again.Throughout the 19th century, the Jewish community suffered from Bedouin and Arab attacks.[6]
The Jewish population was increased in the last half of the 19th century by immigration from Iran, Morocco, and Algeria. Moses Montefiore visited Safed seven times and financed rebuilding of much of the town. Virtually all the antiquities of Safed were however destroyed by earthquakes.
[edit] Modern era
While the demographics of Safed fluctuated over the centuries, before the war in 1948, about 10,000 of Safed's 12,000 residents were Arabs,[5] most of whom left in 1948. Among the residents who became refugees are Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his family.[7][8]
In 1974, 102 Israeli Jewish teenagers from Safed on a school trip were taken hostage by a Palestinian terrorist groupPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) while sleeping in a school in Maalot. Twenty-one were killed .[9]
[edit] Demographics
According to the CBS, Safed had a population of 26,600 in 2003. The ethnic makeup of the city was 99.2% Jewish and non-Arab, with no significant Arab population. See Population groups in Israel.
According to CBS, in 2001 there were 12,700 males and 13,200 females. The population of the city was spread out with 43.2% 19 years of age or younger, 13.5% between 20 and 29, 17.1% between 30 and 44, 12.5% from 45 to 59, 3.1% from 60 to 64, and 10.5% 65 years of age or older.
The population growth rate in 2001 was 3.0%, and 0.9% in 2003.
[edit] Income
As of December 2001, the CBS' socio-economic ranking places the city slightly below the average, at 4 out of 10, with an average income of 4,476 shekels per month to a national average of 6,835 shekels
According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 6,450 salaried workers and 523 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is ILS 4,476, a real change of 8.1% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 5,631 (a real change of 10.2%) versus ILS 3,330 for females (a real change of 2.3%). The mean income for the self-employed is 4,843. There are 425 people who receive unemployment benefits and 3,085 people who receive an income guarantee.
[edit] Education
According to CBS, there are 25 schools and 6,292 students in the city. They are spread out as 18 elementary schools and 3,965 elementary school students, and 11 high schools and 2,327 high school students. 40.8% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001. One of the most important intellectual figures from Safed is Aous Shakra. Shakra was a one of the most important existential philosophers of the 20th century; his books are still used to teach courses at Harvard where he had taught.
[edit] Galleries and museums
- Meiri Museum for Safed History
- Printing Press Museum
- Artist colony in the Old City
- Biblical Museum
[edit] 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
On 13 July 2006, Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon hit Safed killing one man and injuring others. On 14 July, further rockets killed a five-year-old boy and his grandmother. Many, though not all, residents fled the town.[7] Since July 13, many more Katyushas have been fired at Safed, causing damage to the town and injuries to its inhabitants. On 22 July, 2006, four people were injured from a rocket strike.
[edit] References
- ^ NationMaster - highest towns > Town/City (most recent) by country
- ^ Encyclopedia Judaica, Safed, vol. 14, p. 626, Keter, Jerusalem, 1972
- ^ Encyclopedia Judaica, Safed, vol. 14, p. 626, Keter, Jerusalem, 1972
- ^ Ottomans and Safavids 17th Century
- ^ Hastening Redemption: Messianism and the Resettlement of the Land of Israel, Arie Morgenstern, Oxford University Press, 2007
- ^ Safed
- ^ a b Myre, Greg. 2 More Israelis Are Killed as Rain of Rockets From Lebanon Pushes Thousands South. New York Times, July 15, 2006.
- ^ Palestine Media Center - PMC [Official arm of PA]. "Full Israeli Withdrawal Not Enough -'Palestinians Would Never Give up 'Right of Return.'" May 16, 2005
- ^ Arafat the monster - The Boston Globe
[edit] Bibliography
- Maes, Kevin. Safed: A Battle of Living History, January 15, 2000.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Experience Tsfat Resource Guide (English)
- Official Site (English)
- Official Site (English&Hebrew)
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