This is a travelers brochure for Safed. Safed is an ancient city high in the Galilee hills. We visited Safed in the height of summer. Unlike the sweltering, humid coastal modern city of Tel Aviv, Safed was dryer and more comfortable. This city is home to ultra-religious Jewish families. It is also home to dozens of artists, who have set up an Artists colony along the narrow alleyways of the old city. I had been looking for a particular piece of jewelry inspired by a biblical reference, and I found the perfect pendant at a tiny shop in the Artists colony. It was exactly what I was looking for and couldn't find elsewhere.
Narrow and uneven walkways, hundreds of years old, were interesting to wander through. Little shops displaying oil and acrylic paintings, jewelry, pottery, metalworks, and glass, were tucked in along the way.
Being a religious city, there were reminders along the way that women were expected to dress in a respectful manner, if they wanted to enter the synagogues or other mystical religious spots in this city. We brought long sleeve blouses and light weight ankle-length skirts in our day packs so we could quickly adhere to the expectations, if we wanted to check out the inside of a synagogue. It was really no problem at all. Otherwise, I wore hiking shorts and boots, and tank tops.
I was taking a photo of something on the wall, but what really made this photo cool was the family in the background. I could tell they are not really that amused with the daily onslaught of their city by irreverent tourists. We all feel like that when strangers invade our towns, so I could relate.
One thing I noticed right away were the many posters of Rabbi Schneerson. He was born in Ukraine in 1902, went to Berlin to study math and science, was chased out by the Nazis, and ended up in New York in 1941, where he spent the next 45 years leading the Lubavitch movement, which believes that if everyone takes responsibility for their actions, and starts doing good deeds, it will usher in the messianic age. It seems so simple doesn't it? If we all just start being good to each other, the world will be a better place. The thing is, everyone has to participate in this concept, for it to work. Anyhow, the Rabbi died in 1994, not seeing his dream realized. He did, however, get a Congressional Gold Medal for his attempts to improve things in the world.
Tour groups usually have an armed guide, or armed security. This group had their protection, like everyone else. We felt pretty safe in Safed.
A pretty cool store: The Safed Candle Factory. This store made candles of every type. You could see them in the process of their work. They had candles you could buy, and candle art that was not for sale.
They had space aliens from other planets.
Remember the Bible story about little David slaying the Giant Goliath with just a litle sling shot and small round stones?
Another David and Goliath depiction in wax.
I am a Noah's ark fan, and I loved this one. There were all sorts of great animals, both inside the ark and in the water below. I really got a kick out of the fact that they had a Snoopy beagle napping on the edge of the ark, oblivious to the cataclismic event going on around him.
The Safed Zoo. They had shelves full of different animals for sale.
A wax depiction of the story of Joseph, as a big wig in Egypt, listening to his brothers (who sold him into slavery years before and told their dad that he had been killed by a wild animal) now coming to him to beg for food during the great famine. Of course, they didn't recognize him after all those years, and Joseph had to play a few pay-back games with them.
I loved the wax books on the bookshelf, because I am an uncontrolled book collector and have thousands of them everywhere. So many books to read, so little time.
"Live Long and Prosper"
On a very old building in the old city, we noticed this and were reminded of Star Trek's Mr Spock. Wasn't this his way of saying goodbye to his Vulcan pals?
No comments:
Post a Comment