Author: byishimo

This old white stone building sits hilltop off Aliyah Bet Street. Some
300 years old, the Saraya has witnessed much of Zefat’s history, times
of glory and of fear.

At the start of the 18th century, D’har El Omar, a powerful Bedouin
Sheikh, took control over the Galilee. The chose a hilltop in Safed
and then built himself a large and magnificent living place for
himself and his family.  This was the Saraya.

The Saraya Under The Turks

Upon the conclusion of D’har El Omar’s rule in the late 1700s, the
ruling Turkish authorities, who controlled the area from 1517 to the
beginning of the 20th century, captured it. The Saraya then stayed
under Turkish rule until the collapse of their empire and the start of
the British mandate’s control in the holy land. But approximately 100
years after the Turks captured the Saraya, it was documented in a
British survey as being referred to as the ‘Turkish Han.’

Over the years, the Saraya began to crumble and fall into disrepair.
However, at the end of the 19th century, the building was newly
renovated and restored to its original grandeur at the hands of the
Turks. It was also properly given the name “The Saraya.”

The Saraya then began to serve as the central headquarters of the
local governing Ottomans (Turks). And at the turn of the 19th century,
the clock tower, which still stands today, was built in honor of Ebid
El Haamid II, the reigning.

British Central Command

Then, in the aftermath of World War I, the British took control over
Palestine and the Saraya was made it into the headquarters of British
legislation and power in northern Palestine.

During the riots of 1929, the British held the Jews here to protect
them from the Arabs, although some were killed from sniper bullets
while taking refuge here. For three days, the Jews huddled in fear
while the Arabs plundered the Old City.

The British wanted to evacuate the Jews from Safed, but the Jews
refused to leave and soon forced their way past the British guards.
They returned to the rubble of their destroyed homes. After the
British left and just before the War of Independence, the Saraya
became the Arab’s high seat of regulation.

Israeli Army Headquarters

On January 4, 1948, a historic day for the city of Safed, Lehi
fighters managed to blow up the building. By doing so, they were able
to break a link in the Arab’s chain of command.
After the War of Independence, the Saraya was rebuilt. It had many
functions, from being the Israeli army headquarters to a home for
pensioners.

A Community Center Today

In 1975, the Saraya was properly restored and finished, thanks to the
help of Sir Isaac Wolfson and his wife Edith. Sir Isaac was a very
prominent philanthropist and benefactor to Israel. The building was
then renamed “The Isaac and Edith Wolfson Community Center.”

Today, the Wolfson Center serves as home of the Noam synagogue, which
is functional both on Shabbat and during the week. It also houses a
music conservatory, offers Hebrew classes for new immigrants and a
museum on Jewish life in Hungary before the Holocaust. The Saraya
Courtyard is also used for outdoor concerts where music lovers can
listen to live music echoing off the old stone walls.

More recently, the bell atop the clock tower was restored. Chiming
across town every quarter hour, the bell is a charming reminder of
Safed’s rich and colorful past.

Rabbi Avraham Zeida Heller was born in Safed on Jan. 25, 1984, the fourth generation of his family in this city. He was the great grandson of Rabbi Shmuel Heller, a 19th century Safed rabbi, and a descendant of the famed Rabbi Yomtov Lippman Heller.

After attending Heder (Jewish parochial school), Avraham Heller learned in the Yeshiva (seminary) of the Ridbaz (Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky, who was known by his acronym) and also attended the Yeshiva known as the Beit Chatam Sofer in Safed. Rabbi Heller received his ordination from Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook (first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi during the British Mandate in Palestine) and from other central rabbinic figures with whom he initiated dialogue on a number of important Jewish legal issues culled from both the Written and Oral Torah. In 1914 Rabbi Heller married Frieda Barzel and the couple had five daughters.

It was Rabbi Heller’s father Zeev who was responsible for establishing the Yeshivat Chatam Sofer in Safed. When Zeev passed away in the year 1919, Avraham Zeida combined two Yeshivot, the Ridbaz Yeshiva and the Chatam Sofer, creating the Yeshivat Chatam Sofer-Ridbaz. Rabbi Avraham Heller was appointed as the head of this learning institution, or Rosh Yeshiva.

Mizrachi Movement

In addition to his work at the Yeshiva, Rabbi Heller set aside time to serve the people of Safed in a variety of ways, such as volunteering his time to establish the neighborhood known as Tzofia, on Har Canaan, and founding and standing at the head of a branch of the Mizrachi (Religious Zionist) Movement in Safed. Through his work in Mizrachi, he influenced the Safed community to greater activism within this organization. Heller was also involved in organizing the Hagana, the fledgling Jewish defense force, raising funds for the purchase of firearms. Rabbi Heller received a prize from the Hagana for his service to this cause.

During the War of Independence, Rabbi Heller stood at the head of the Homefront Command and of the local draft board where he fought against draft evasion even as families of draft evaders sent him death threats. During this time, Rabbi Heller entered the public conscious and won broad consensus with his Jewish legal precedents on waiving the observance of commandments in order to save lives.

In March of 1938, while on his way from Haifa to Safed, Rabbi Heller’s taxicab was attacked by a gang of Arab bandits, close to the village of Shazur. Heller, by dint of what seemed a miracle, was the only one saved among the passengers, victims of the cruelest type of slaughter.

Later Years

After Israel’s War of Independence, Rabbi Heller stood at the head of the Safed religious council, while continuing to manage the Yeshiva. He also published many books and articles. His major work, “The Rabbi, the Leader, and the Doctor,” was a biography of his great grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Heller (1989). Avraham Heller received a medal honoring him as a Defender of Safed, from the former commander of the Palmach, Yigal Alon.

At the end of his life, Rabbi Heller lived in Central Israel but asked to be buried in the beloved city of his birth, Safed. Avraham Heller passed away on the 4th of the Hebrew month of Tevet 5751 (December 22, 1990) at the ripe old age of 96. Hundreds of Safed residents, most of them veteran fighters from the Hagana and the IZL, accompanied him to his final resting place in heavy rains to the old cemetery of Safed where he was buried near his ancestors. The mayor of Safed at that time, Zeev Pearl, eulogized Rabbi Heller, stating that he was, “among the heroes and the defenders of the city.”

Avraham Zeidah Heller was a symbol of tolerance and respect, and always had an ear for his fellow man.  He received the posthumous appellation Yakir (Beloved) of Safed, in 2003.

During the Middle Ages, the majority of the Jews living in the Land of Israel lived in Tzfat. During the 16th and 17th centuries A.D., Tzfat was a comfortable and inviting habitat for Jews. There were economic opportunities for people living in Tzfat, and Torah study was flourishing. Tzfat was also developing as the world center of Kabbalah study, and during this time, some of Judaism’s biggest rabbis and scholars came to live, study and work in Tzfat.
As time went by it became increasingly difficult for residents of Tzfat. Earthquakes leveled the city twice, and attacks by neighboring Arabs created panic. By the early part of the 20th century, the population had diminished considerably, and the famine caused by the Turks before and during World War I made the situation in Tzfat intolerable – the majority of the population left Tzfat, and by 1920, there were former-Tzfat families who had emigrated to every corner of the world.

Today, descendents of these families come back to Tzfat to visit from such far-flung places as Brazil, Australia, South Africa and Canada. They know almost nothing about their families’ history in Tzfat other than a few names and the fact that their ancestors had once lived in Tzfat. They are all curious about these ancestors and look for information that may help them put their genealogical puzzles together.

Mapping The Cemetery

Several resources exist for such researchers. One resource is a unique tour guide, David Amiel , who has extensively studied Tzfat’s history. David is interested in the people who lived in Tzfat, and his vast knowledge has made him a valued resource for many researchers who have contacted him – he graciously shares whatever he knows about each family, which is generally extensive and detailed….who married who, where they lived, what they did, and most importantly, what has happened to the various family members. David has helped many families reunite with cousins from throughout the world. David can be contacted at amiel64@walla.com.

Tzfat’s second resource for genealogy researchers is another well-known tour guide, Haim Sidor, who has embarked on a remarkable project of mapping the Tzfat cemetery. With little support or funding, Haim has, for many years, been quietly visiting the Old Tzfat cemetery several times each month, walking through the weeds which cover the tombstones to try to decipher the names, birthdates, parents’ names, and any other information which can be found on these tombstones. Genealogists see cemeteries as gold mines for finding information about ancestors, and this is doubly true in Jewish cemeteries where the names of the deceased are often written together with the names of the deceased’s parents.

Haim is a known figure in Tzfat – he is one of Tzfat’s most popular and knowledgeable tour guides.  His work in mapping the cemetery is a labor of love, as he believes that remembering the names and histories of the people who build Tzfat and filled her streets with Torah and Judaism is the ultimate respect that can be shown. Haim can be contacted at hsidor@netvision.net.il

Finally, the Tsfat Roots Online Resource is a website created to enable researchers to look for historical and genealogical information from one centralized site. Haim Sidor’s cemetery mapping is here, as are a number of historical documents, including burial and population records, passport registration records, a list from the Tzfat Old Age Home, and a membership list from the 1912 Kollel (Study House). The lists can be accessed at http://www.tsfat.com/projects/tsfatroots/tsfatroots.htm

With the long, hopefully rainy winter still usually in the stage of anticipation at Chanukah-time, Israelis welcome Chanukah as a sort of last fling before hunkering down in their houses next to the heaters for the coming winter months.

Chanukah comes out on the Jewish calendar in December.  It’s a week-long holiday of school vacation. There are, however, no major religious preparations, restrictions or laws, aside from the tradition of lighting the Hannukia, or Menorah (8-branched candelabra) every evening. So it’s a holiday that is enjoyed in a relaxed atmosphere by all.

Background of Chanukah

Chanukah may be known in some circles as “the Jewish Christmas” because it falls in December, seen by some as a convenient  Jewish alternative to Xmas. It’s anything but that. Chanukah commemorates the victory of the Jews of the second century B.C.E. over the Hellenists who sought to bury Judaism in favor of pan-Greek ideology. Consecrated oil found in the trampled Temple of Jerusalem was enough to burn for one day, but instead, miraculously burned for eight days – hence Chanukah is celebrated for eight days.

In some parts of Israel, the Christmas tradition of giving gifts has become popular, but not so in Tzfat, where Chanukah is still fairly simple – some families buy small presents for their children, but it’s not prevalent and certainly not as gift-oriented a holiday as in other parts of Israel. In Tzfat, even those gifts which are bought tend to be board and card games which the children can play (during the week-long school vacation) with family and friends.

Most businesses close early during Chanukah to enable the employees to return home in time for candle-lighting which, ideally, is done at nightfall. Some businesses, however, are unable to close early. It’s not unusual to be shopping in a Tzfat supermarket on Chanukah and hear, over the loudspeaker, “we will now be lighting the Chanukah lights at the front of the store. All shoppers are invited to join.” At that point, most shoppers leave their carts, and more interestingly, workers leave their counters and cashiers leave their stations as everyone gathers in the front of the store to say the blessings and light the candles.

Festival of Lights in Tzfat

One of the laws that is associated with Chanukah is the injunction to “publicize the miracle” by placing the Chanukah lights in a public place. In most countries, Jewish families put their menorahs by their windows so that they can be seen from outside. But in Israel, and especially in Tzfat, many people own glass coverings which are fitted on a box over their menorah. These boxes, with the lit menorah inside, are hung on hooks next to the doorways and the gates of the homes, on the outside (street-side) of the house. Although many of these menorahs are quite expensive, no one has ever heard of one being stolen, and it’s a beautiful sight to walk down the streets of Tzfat and see the lights of the menorahs burning in the windows and doorways of the homes. Many families have the tradition of giving a separate menorah to each child, and some homes are full and bright with Chanukah lights, lighting up the entire town.

A Town Celebrates

Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, is preceded by several days of remembrance in the Jewish calendar – Holocaust Remembrance Day, Tzfat Day (commemorating the liberation of Tzfat during the 1948 War of Independence) and Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers.

So it almost comes as a bit of a surprise when, at the moment that the siren for Memorial Day sounds to end that day, celebrations break out to usher in Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel Independence Day. The fireworks begin, the music blares, and Tzfat explodes in lights and excitement as residents stream to the center of town from all neighborhoods to celebrate together.

Colored lights are strung throughout the main street of the town – no matter how far the new neighborhoods are from the center of town, everyone is drawn to the main street for the major festivities.

By sunset, youngsters start patrolling Jerusalem Street, Tzfat’s “main drag” with cans of silly string, which they spray on anyone who crosses their path, and when night falls, these kids are racing around the street covered in foam of many colors.

Central Stage

The central stage of Tzfat’s Independence Day gala is generally set up outside, next to the historic Saraya building. The city does this for practical purposes…..it’s the area with the most open space in the vicinity of Jerusalem Street. But there’s also a bit of poetic justice in seeing Israelis celebrating their independence at the site of the government headquarters of both the Turkish and the British governors, both of whom represented occupying powers which tried to thwart the Jewish dream of an independent Jewish country.

The stages have performances by Tzfat’s youth clubs’ dancing and singing groups. Almost everyone has a child or neighbor who is performing, so for the first few hours, most merrymakers can be found in this vicinity. Then, after the 10:00p.m. fireworks, the main performance begins as a well-known performer who has been invited to Tzfat for the evening commences his or her evening performance. Various social groups of elderly citizens stake out their corners of the town and watch, bemusedly, as the festivities get underway.

One “performance” which is mandatory is the mayor’s speech. Every mayor in recent memory has tried to speak, and only those with exceptionally strong amplifying systems have succeeded, but there’s plenty of politics as representatives of the various political parties and interest groups work the crowds, promoting their particular stand or belief. Recent years have seen a proliferation of ecological and environmental activists out and about at the Yom HaAtzmaut celebrations – a sign that, even in Tzfat, times change, often for the better.