Four Holy Cities in Israel

The rain this week cleared the air in the Galilee and you could see all the way to Mount Hermon on the Syrian border.

View of Tsfat from Tiberias

I snapped this photo across the street from our apartment in Tiberias.

That is the mystical city of Tsfat (Safed) on the top of the mountain in the distance high above the Sea of Galilee.

There are 4 holy cities in Israel; Jerusalem, Hevron, Tiberias and Tsfat according to our tradition.

They represent Fire, Earth, Water and Air respectively.

• Jerusalem – Fire – because the fire on the altar in the Temple
• Hebron – Earth – because the patriarchs and matriarchs are buried in the cave of Machpela
• Tiberias – Water – not because it is on the Sea of Galilee, but because the Oral Torah (which is likened to water) was redacted here.
• Tzfat – Air – because the sages say “there is no place in Israel where the air is as ripe for delving into the secrets of the Torah.