Editing Safed (section)

{{Short description|City in northern Israel}}
{{pp|small=yes}} 
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Safed
| native_name        = {{Hlist
 | {{Lang|he|{{nobold|צְפַת}}|rtl=yes}}
 | {{Lang|ar|{{lang|ar|صفد}}|rtl=yes}}
 }}
| other_name         = Tzfat
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities in Israel|City]]
| translit_lang1     = Hebrew
| translit_lang1_type1 = [[ISO 259]]
| translit_lang1_info1 = Çpat
| translit_lang1_type2 = Translit.
| translit_lang1_info2 = Tz'fat
| translit_lang1_type3 = Also spelled
| translit_lang1_info3 = Tsfat, Tzefat, Zfat, Sfat, Ẕefat (official)
| image_skyline      = {{center|{{Photomontage
  |photo1a = Safed1.jpg
  |size = 280
  |photo2a = Safed street.jpg
  |photo2b = Safed alleyway.jpg
  |photo3b = PikiWiki Israel 48709 Safed - the Old City.jpg
  |photo3c = Tsfat-the old town croped.jpg
  |color   = transparent
  |border  = 0
  }}}}
| image_caption      = A look from above at Safed against the backdrop of the [[Galilee]] mountains. Alleys in the [[artists' quarter of Safed]]. Alley within the Makemat  and White Donkey Khan. Street in the old city.
| image_blank_emblem = Coat of arms of Safed.svg
| pushpin_map_alt    = 
| pushpin_map        = Israel northeast#Israel
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_map_caption = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|32|57|57|N|35|29|54|E|region:IL|format=dms|display= inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = {{ISR}}
| subdivision_type1  = 
| subdivision_name1  = 
| subdivision_type2  = [[Districts of Israel|District]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern]]
| subdivision_type3  = Sub-district
| subdivision_name3  = [[Safed sub-district|Safed]]
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 1500 BCE<ref name="Gorys">{{cite book |title= Heiliges Land |series= Kunst-Reiseführer |author= Erhard Gorys |year= 1996 |location= Cologne |publisher= DuMont |isbn= 3-7701-3860-0 |language= de |page= 267 |quote={{lang|de|Der ägyptische Pharao Thutmosis III (1490–1436) erwähnte in seiner Liste der eroberten Städte Kanaans auch Saft, das möglicherweise mit Zefat identisch war.}} (The Egyptian Pharao [[Thutmose III]] (1490–1436) mentioned Saft in his [[Thutmose III#Thutmose's military campaigns|list of cities conquered in Canaan]], which might be identical with Safed.)}}</ref>
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Yossi Kakon
| unit_pref          = dunam
| population_footnotes = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| population_total   = 42117
| population_as_of   = 2024
| population_density_km2 = auto
| demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
| demographics1_footnotes = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| demographics1_title1 = [[Israeli Jews|Jews and others]]
| demographics1_info1 = 97.9%
| demographics1_title2 = [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arabs]]
| demographics1_info2 = 2.1%
| elevation_m        = 850
| website            = {{website|http://www.zefat.muni.il/Pages/default.aspx|www.zefat.muni.il}}
| official_name      = Tzfat
}}

'''Safed''' ({{langx|ar|صفد|Ṣafad}}), also known as '''Tzfat''' ({{langx|he|צְפַת|Ṣəfaṯ}}),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Safed {{!}} History, Location, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Zefat |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=An in depth guide to the mystical city of Tzfat (or Safed) |url=https://www.timeout.com/israel/attractions/tzfat-a-guide-to-the-mystical-city |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=Time Out Israel |language=en-US}}</ref> is a city in the [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern District]] of [[Israel]]. Located at an elevation of up to {{cvt|937|m}}, Safed is the highest city in the [[Galilee]] and in Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/vie-safed |title=Safed |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library Article |access-date=December 29, 2022}}</ref>

Safed has been identified with {{lang|grc-Latn|Sepph}} ({{lang|grc|Σέπφ}}), a fortified town in the [[Upper Galilee]] mentioned in the writings of the [[Roman Jewish]] historian [[Josephus]]. The [[Jerusalem Talmud]] mentions Safed as one of five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the [[Rosh Chodesh|New Moon]] and festivals during the [[Second Temple period]]. Safed attained local prominence under the [[Crusaders]], who built a large fortress there in 1168. It was conquered by [[Saladin]] 20 years later, and demolished by his grandnephew [[al-Mu'azzam Isa]] in 1219. After reverting to the Crusaders in a treaty in 1240, a larger fortress was erected, which was expanded and reinforced in 1268 by the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] sultan [[Baybars]], who developed Safed into a major town and the capital of a new province spanning the Galilee. After a century of general decline, the stability brought by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest in 1517 ushered in nearly a century of growth and prosperity in Safed, during which time Jewish immigrants from across Europe developed the city into a center for [[Jewish textile industry in 16th-century Safed|wool and textile production]] and the mystical [[Kabbalah]] movement. It became known as one of the [[Four Holy Cities]] of Judaism. As the capital of the [[Safad Sanjak]], it was the main population center of the Galilee, with large Muslim and Jewish communities. Besides during the fortunate governorship of [[Fakhr al-Din II]] in the early 17th century, the city underwent a general decline and by the mid-18th century was eclipsed by [[Acre, Israel|Acre]]. Its Jewish residents [[1838 Druze attack on Safed|were targeted]] in [[Druze]] and local Muslim raids in the 1830s, and many perished in an [[Galilee earthquake of 1837|earthquake]] in that same decade – through the philanthropy of [[Moses Montefiore]], its Jewish synagogues and homes were rebuilt.

Safed's population reached 24,000 toward the end of the 19th century; it was a [[Mixed cities|mixed city]], divided roughly equally between Jews and Muslims with a small Christian community. Its Muslim merchants played a key role as middlemen in the [[grain trade]] between the local farmers and the traders of Acre, while the Ottomans promoted the city as a center of [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]]. Safed's conditions improved considerably in the late 19th century, a municipal council was established along with a number of banks, though the city's jurisdiction was limited to the Upper Galilee. By 1922, Safed's population had dropped to around 8,700, roughly 60% Muslim, 33% Jewish and the remainder Christians. Amid rising ethnic tension throughout [[Mandatory Palestine]], Safed's Jews were attacked in an [[1929 Palestine riots#Safed massacre, 29 August|Arab riot in 1929]]. The city's population had risen to 13,700 by 1948, overwhelmingly Arab, though the city was proposed to be part of a Jewish state in the [[1947 UN Partition Plan]]. During the [[1948 Palestine war|1948 war]], Arab factions attacked and besieged the Jewish quarter which held out until Jewish paramilitary forces captured the city after heavy fighting, precipitating British forces to withdraw.<ref name=Abbasi40/> Most of the city's predominantly Palestinian-Arab population [[Nakba|fled or were expelled]] as a result of [[Operation Yiftach|attacks by Jewish forces]] and the nearby [[Ein al-Zeitun massacre]], and were not allowed to return after the war, such that today the city has an almost exclusively Jewish population.<ref name=Abbasi40/><ref>Morris (2004) 221–226.</ref> That year, the city became part of the then-newly established state of Israel.

[[File:SafedDSCN4033.JPG|thumb|Art in Safed: zodiac on ceramic disk]]
Safed has a large [[Haredi]] community and remains a center for Jewish religious studies. Safed today hosts the Ziv Hospital as well as the [[Zefat Academic College]]. Safed is a major subject in Israeli art, it hosts an [[Artists Quarter of Safed|Artists' Quarter]]. Several prominent art movements played a role in the city, most notably the [[School of Paris|École de Paris]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hecht Museum |title=After the School of Paris |year=2013 |isbn=9789655350272 |location=Israel |publisher=Mané-Katz Museum, [[Haifa Museum of Art|Haifa Museums]] |language=en, he}}</ref> However the [[Artists Quarter of Safed|Artists' quarter]] has declined since its golden age in the second half of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Artist Quarter of Safed |url=https://www.safed.co.il/ArtistQuarterofSafed.html |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=www.safed.co.il}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=24 October 2023 |title=The School of Paris and the Artists' Quarter of Safed |url=https://mushecht.haifa.ac.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57:2015-01-27-09-53-19&catid=208&lang=he&Itemid=169 |website=Hecht Museum}}</ref> Due to its high elevation, the city has warm summers and cold, often snowy winters.<ref name="vilnai">{{cite book|title= A Guide to Israel|author= Vilnay, Zev|author-link= Zev Vilnay|publisher= HaMakor Press|location= [[Jerusalem]], Palestine|year = 1972|chapter= Tsefat|pages= 522–532}}</ref> Its mild climate and scenic views have made Safed a popular holiday resort frequented by Israelis and foreign visitors.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.planetware.com/israel/Safed-isr-nr-sf.htm |title= Planetware Safed Tourism |publisher= Planetware.com |access-date= 2012-01-07 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110812094811/http://www.planetware.com/israel/Safed-isr-nr-sf.htm |archive-date= 2011-08-12 }}</ref> In {{Israel populations|Year}} it had a population of {{Israel populations|Zefat}}.{{Israel populations|reference}}