place · L0209
Tzfat צפת
Galilean hill town that became, in the 16th century, the most concentrated center of Torah since the Talmud: R' Yosef Karo wrote the Shulchan Aruch here, the Arizal taught its circle of kabbalists, and Lecha Dodi was composed for its Friday evenings. The influx followed the Spanish expulsion of 1492 — dispersal regathering into new creativity.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- צפת
- Also known as
- Safed, Zefat
III. Where
- Modern location
- Safed, Upper Galilee, Israel
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| After the expulsion from Spain, Tzfat drew an extraordinary concentration of scholars and kabbalists — Karo, Cordovero, Alkabetz, Luria, Vital — making it the spiritual capital of the 16th-century Jewish world. | external | ★★★★☆ | |
| R' Yosef Karo completed the Beit Yosef and wrote the Shulchan Aruch in Tzfat, where he headed a large beit din until his death in 1575. | external | ★★★★☆ |
Referenced by: Yosef Karo, The Arizal, Yaakov Berab, The Tzfat semicha revival controversy