hiddentour

A little over 500 years ago, the expulsion of the Jews of Spain took place. After the expulsion and over a period of about 50 years, about 10,000 Jews from Spain emigrated to Safed and built Safed in the Spanish building style known to them. This special period is called the ‘golden age’ of Safed, which was a fascinating and central historical station in the cultural and traditional development of Jewish history.

In later periods, Safed died out.

The most known reason is the earthquake that struck Safed in 1837. It destroyed the city completely. Also, events of the First World War led to years of poverty, starvation, disease and deprivation. All these and other factors were a significant cause for some of the city's magnificent buildings to be buried deep in the earth. Parts of the newer Old City were built on top of these buried buildings.

The tunnels you are visiting are the result of the exposure of ancient rooms and water cisterns dating back to the 16th century which were covered underground for about 100 years. The tunnels connect to the ‘Beit Hakahal’ area- the remains of an ancient neighborhood from the 16th century.

The archaeological exposure of the tunnels and buildings in ‘Beit HaKahal’ was carried out over the years with the assistance of thousands of young Jewish volunteers from Israel and abroad who operated as part of the educational volunteer programs run by ‘Livnot U’Lehibanot’

Our tour starts in a room dedicated to the spiritual leader of the Hasidic-Jewish community in Safed during the Hasidic aliya period and the earthquake.

Rabbi Avraham Dov of Avritsch is known as the 'earthquake visioner'. The Rabbi saw in the spirit of his holiness the earthquake, thereby saving his followers from the disaster. After the earthquake, he encouraged the residents not to abandon Safed. He appealed to Minister Moshe Montefiore and several other governors to restore the ruins of the ancient synagogues. He also called upon Hasidic communities from all over Europe to come up and support the Tzfat community.

The room "precious stones" is named according to a famous story about the Rabbi displayed on a sign in the room.

In addition, this is a recognition room for the donors and benefactors who have supported the organization over the years.

Today, after centuries it is not really possible to know for sure what all these rooms and buildings were used for. But a number of speculations were raised regarding various findings.

The evidence in some of the rooms attests to the fact that they may have been used as wine cellars or storing rooms. A number of signs suggested that there probably was a mikvah belonging to the family that lived here. From this assumption, the little mikvah was reconstructed.

In the room where the mikvah is located, it is clear that two types of construction were used. One part of the room is a remnant from an earlier period, while the second part is reconstruction of the ruins.

This is a room dedicated to the 1948 War of Independence.

After the end of the British Mandate began a struggle for sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

In Safed there was a fierce war of a Jewish minority against Arab fighters from a variety of armies. Under the leadership of Yigal Allon, about 300 fighters from the Palmach division joined the old Jewish community in Safed, which was under siege. In a heroic struggle, in a miraculous atmosphere and with a wonderful sense of unity, the fighters brought about the liberation of Safed on the 1st day of the Hebrew month ‘Iyar’, 1948.

In the weapons room, a video is shown with some testimonies of the elders of Safed who tell about their part in the war, as well as a variety of weapons used at the time, which the organization received from the Defense Ministry.

These tunnels were created by connecting spaces of living rooms from the past, ancient water cisterns and sections of passage that created a long tunnel that connects the main street to the ‘Beit Hakahal’ area (a remnant from an ancient neighborhood from the 16th century)

Today a national company provides us with water for our faucets, but in the past it was necessary for every family to store their own rainwater.

For this purpose, the roofs of the houses were built on a slope, so the rainwater would spill into the gutters and from there along the Safed alleys, built on the slope of a mountain. The water drainage ended in reservoirs of water cisterns that were built next to almost every building and were used by the residents for drinking and bathing.

During periods of drought, the residents would hual water from the pools of Amud river, which passes through the wadi at the foot of Safed

For almost 80 years, the structure in front of you was completely covered with earth, stones and building debris that created a kind of hill in the heart of the Old City.

For about a decade, many volunteers, Jewish youth from Israel and abroad, as part of the organization's educational volunteer programs, dug and uncovered a number of authentic ancient structures, an authentic remnant of buildings in the Sephardic neighborhood of safed.

This magical place served as a lively community center during the golden age of Safed in the 16th century.

During the excavations we uncovered an ancient structure that served as a ritual bath. The structure of the mikvah was exposed in its entirety, with the 'treasure' at its side, which stored the rainwater and thus the Mikvah is halachically kosher (to the standards of Jewish law regarding a ritual bath). The ancient mikvah was part of a bathhouse that operated here in the previous century.

Above the mikvah is the scoria stone that was found near the mikvah. Scoria stone is a type of volcanic rock and therefore its natural habitat is in the Golan Heights. It was used to heat the water of the mikvah, since this stone is able to keep the heat inside it longer than usual.

The mikvah served as a central ritual bath in this ancient neighborhood. From this comes the logical assumption that the great sages who lived during the period of the kabbalists used this mikvah.

The Jews that were expelled from Spain brought with them the knowledge to develop the textile industry.

In Amud river, in the wadi at the foot of Safed, the residents built fulling machines (that were run by water stations) that were used to prepare the wool. The textile industry developed so much that in the 16th century Safed had a large number of workshops with weaving looms (as shown here) to export textiles to Europe. This was one of the main factors of economic development during this period, along with the fact that Safed served as a central trade station on the Damascus-Cairo trade route.

The fulling machine is built in such a way that the flow of water creates a movement of wooden wheels that rotate a huge water wheel that is connected to a wooden pole that rises up and turns another number of wheels. The same wheels are attached to huge hammers. Due to the rotation of the hammers, the fabrics that are found in baths filled with water at the bottom of the structure are hit hard. This work is called the work of shattering.

About 100 years ago the ancient stone oven served as a bakery for the local community. Today we use it for the experiential workshop of baking challah which also includes an in-depth explanation of the connection between matter and spirit.

In the center of the floor of the ‘Beit Hakahal’ bakery room, is a circular opening through which water was hauled from the water cistern below. We recently opened a passageway that allows visitors to enter the cistern.