Early Safed History
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− | + | ('''Hebrew''': צפת / '''Pronounciation''': Tse-fat / '''Spelling''': Tzfat, Zefat, Zfat, Safet, Tzfad, Zfad, Tsfat / '''Other Names''': Safed / '''Definition''': Known early history of Tzfat, Israel) | |
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− | Historians and archaeologists | + | Historians and archaeologists are not certain when [[Safed]] was settled nor how far back Jewish settlement of Tzfat can be traced. However, evidence from a number of different directions indicate that Tzfat has played an important part in Jewish history [[Safed History|for over 2000 years]]. |
== Early Settlement == | == Early Settlement == | ||
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=== Biblical Tzfat === | === Biblical Tzfat === | ||
− | A city named Tzfat is mentioned twice in the Tanach, once in Shoftim and once in Divray Hayamim Bais (Tzfasa). This city is clearly not current day Tzfat since it is located in central Israel. Biblical Tzfat was a Canaanite city conquered early in the Battle for Eretz Yisroel | + | A city named Tzfat is mentioned twice in the Tanach, once in Shoftim and once in Divray Hayamim Bais (Tzfasa). This city is clearly not current day Tzfat since it is located in central Israel. Biblical Tzfat was a Canaanite city conquered early in the Battle for Eretz Yisroel in a joint effort of the tribes of Yehuda and Shimon. Unlike other conquered cities they completely and totally annihilated and demolished the city taking no spoils, renaming the place Cahrama after their actions. |
=== City of Refuge === | === City of Refuge === | ||
− | Some scholars believe that, during | + | Some scholars believe that, during this time, Safed was a City of Refuge. According to the Torah, Cities of Refuge provided accidental murderers a place where they could escape to live out their days. While Tzfat was not one of the six main Cities of Refuge, it could have possibly been one of the 42 Levite cities that offered partial refuge benefits. |
=== Cave of Shem and Ever === | === Cave of Shem and Ever === | ||
− | There is a cave in Tzfat that is said to have been used as the | + | There is a cave in Tzfat that is said to have been used as the Bais Medrash of Shem and Ever. According to this Yackov studied in this location for 14 years. |
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== Talmudic References == | == Talmudic References == | ||
− | Safed, at an elevation of 900 meters above sea level, is the highest city in Israel. The earliest known written reference to Tsfat comes from the Talmud. Talmud Yerushalmi, in Masechet Rosh Hashana mentions “Zefath” as one of the five elevated spots where the fires would be lit to mark a “Rosh Chodesh” -- new month. During the times of the Beit HaMikdash and for several centuries afterward, witnesses in Jerusalem would testify when they spotted a New Moon, as this signified the onset of a new month. A massive bonfire would be lit in Jerusalem and immediately afterward, on successive mountaintops throughout the country. This served as a kind of “smoke signal” to alert the country’s Jews that a new month had begun. The | + | Safed, at an elevation of 900 meters above sea level, is the highest city in Israel. The earliest known written reference to Tsfat comes from the Talmud. Talmud Yerushalmi, in Masechet Rosh Hashana mentions “Zefath” as one of the five elevated spots where the fires would be lit to mark a “Rosh Chodesh” -- new month. During the times of the Beit HaMikdash and for several centuries afterward, witnesses in Jerusalem would testify when they spotted a New Moon, as this signified the onset of a new month. A massive bonfire would be lit in Jerusalem and immediately afterward, on successive mountaintops throughout the country. This served as a kind of “smoke signal” to alert the country’s Jews that a new month had begun. The Safed mountaintop is believed to have been the northernmost spot where these bonfires were lit, visible to the Jews who lived over the borders of the Land of Israel in today’s Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. |
== Roman Era == | == Roman Era == | ||
A further reference to Tzfat comes from Josephus, the Jewish General who fought against the Romans and ultimately joined the Roman cause. Josephus wrote in Chapter 25 of his book “The War of the Jews” that he had stationed a battallion of Jewish soldiers on the hilltop of a town in the Galilee that he called “Seph” /”Zeph.” Historians believe that this refers to the area that is present-day Tzfat and agree that this description jives with existing knowledge of Josephus’s battle strategy against the Roman legions and the battles that were fought in the region. | A further reference to Tzfat comes from Josephus, the Jewish General who fought against the Romans and ultimately joined the Roman cause. Josephus wrote in Chapter 25 of his book “The War of the Jews” that he had stationed a battallion of Jewish soldiers on the hilltop of a town in the Galilee that he called “Seph” /”Zeph.” Historians believe that this refers to the area that is present-day Tzfat and agree that this description jives with existing knowledge of Josephus’s battle strategy against the Roman legions and the battles that were fought in the region. | ||
+ | == Tzfat Cemetery == | ||
+ | The Tzfat cemetery is best known for the graves of the great rabbis and kabbalists of the Middle Ages but graves of ancient rabbis and other personalities attest to the importance of the site, both before and during the Roman era. | ||
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+ | === Grave of Hannah and her Seven Sons === | ||
+ | Along the top northern edge of the cemetery there is a small hill. Tradition relates that this grave is the grave of Hannah and her Seven Sons. According to the tradition, Hannah watched as her seven sons were killed by the Hellenist rulers in the 1st century B.C.E. She urged her sons to submit to death rather then worship Greek Gods. After her youngest son was killed Hannah killed herself and the community buried them together, on the small hilltop at the foot of Safed, at the current location of the army cemetery. | ||
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+ | === Graves of the Tannai’im === | ||
+ | Nearby is the gravesites of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, [[Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta]] and a few minutes walk away from that “kever” is the gravesite of Pinchas Ben Yair, both important Tannaim. Other “tana’aim” buried in the area are Binyamin HaTzaddik and [[Nachum Ish Gamzu]] whose graves are located in a southern Tzfat neighborhood. | ||
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+ | == Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Era == | ||
After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem many survivors fled to the North. Talmudic scholars and teachers, including compilers of the Talmud, settled in Tzfat. | After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem many survivors fled to the North. Talmudic scholars and teachers, including compilers of the Talmud, settled in Tzfat. | ||
=== City of Refuge for Priests === | === City of Refuge for Priests === | ||
No written mention is known of the fate of Tzfat’s citizens during the revolts against the Romans. Two Kinot, Eichah Yashevah and Zechor Eichah, which were written by Eleazar Kallir to be read on the Ninth of Av, the Jewish day of mourning, refer to Safed as a place where the priestly families of Yakim and Pashhur settled after the destruction of the Temple. | No written mention is known of the fate of Tzfat’s citizens during the revolts against the Romans. Two Kinot, Eichah Yashevah and Zechor Eichah, which were written by Eleazar Kallir to be read on the Ninth of Av, the Jewish day of mourning, refer to Safed as a place where the priestly families of Yakim and Pashhur settled after the destruction of the Temple. | ||
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== Byzantine and Post Byzantine Era == | == Byzantine and Post Byzantine Era == | ||
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[[File:more.jpg|link=]] '''Read full Zissil article on the [[Safed History|Complete History of Safed]]''' | [[File:more.jpg|link=]] '''Read full Zissil article on the [[Safed History|Complete History of Safed]]''' | ||
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[[Category:Safed]] | [[Category:Safed]] | ||
[[Category:Jewish History]] | [[Category:Jewish History]] |