Shabbat in Tzfat and the Upper Galilee

This past weekend, I took a trip up to Tzfat in the upper Galilee. Tzfat is known for being the center of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. Besides being a spiritual center of Judaism, Tzfat is home to a large artist community. We learned about Kabbalah and the Jewish community in Tzfat. Tzfat is known as one of the 4  ancient Jewish cities in Eretz Yisrael. Tzfat alongside Tiberias, Jerusalem, and Hebron have always had a Jewish presence. We learned about how Tzfat was a place of migration for Sephardic Jews(Jews from Spain). They migrated to Tzfat as a result of the Spanish Inquisition. Much of the economy back then was based on manufacturing wool and textiles. We learned about the three great teachers of Kabbalah in Tzfat Isaac Luria, Yosef Karo, and Yitzhak Abuhav. Isaac Luria was known as the Ari, the great teacher of Kabbalah and the man of pure thoughts. Karo was the man of deeds and was the author of the Shulchan Aruch, or set table. The book was a how to guide as to being an observant Jew. Abuhav was known as the man of the mind and was a teacher of the Gematria. We visited his synagogue in Tzfat which is built in the Sephardic fashion. We then hiked around Mt. Meron which was fantastic. From there a few of us had Kabbalat Shabbat services with members of the Kabbalah center. it was a orthodox service with Hasidic men and their boys. It was fun to have a service, sing nigunim(melodies), and dance. After dinner we went to the house of Eyal, one of the Hasids at the Kabbalah center and learned more about Kabbalah. The next day we went for a fantastic hike in Nahal Kziv. We also got to hike through the crusader castle Monfort. It was built by the German Teutonic Knights. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend and I loved being in Tzfat. It was a very different religious experience versus being in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the holy city. It is very orthodox and the pressure of being around so many religious people can be suffocating. Tzfat is very different. No matter how religious you are, you feel more spiritual. You feel as if you can be yourself and no one will tell you what and how to pray. You can look inward and see the beauty around you. Tzfat is one of my favorite cities in Israel for this reason, not to mention it is absolutely gorgeous. More to come from Israel soon. Here are some of the photos I took.