Ha-Ari Ashkenazi Shul - Tzfat

A digital rendering of the outside of the Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue in Tzfat (Safed), Israel. Hebrew text reading, "Tzfat, Ari The Holy Ashkenazi Synagogue" also appears. The synagogue was built in honor of Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as the "Ari" (The Lion), by Spanish exiles (Sepahrdi Jews) who had settled in Greece then relocated to Tzfat. Luria was a famous kabbalist who lived and studied in Tzfat. A Hebrew inscription above the entrance lintel reads: "How awe-inspiring is this place, the synagogue of the Ari of blessed memory.” The synagogue, likely the oldest still in use in Israel, is known for its colorful and ornate Aron Kadosh (Holy Ark). When Rabbi Luria arrived he prayed in this synagogue on the eve of Shabbat. During the service, he would often leave the synagogue with his disciples and walk to a nearby field to welcome the Sabbath. It is said that it was during these sessions that popular Shabbat melody, Lecha Dodi, when worshippers turn toward the entrance of the synagogue to "greet" the sabbath, was created. Wit the arrival of Eastern European Hasidim in the eighteenth century the synagogue began to serve the Ashkenazi community. In 1837 the building was destroyed by a severe earthquake, and its reconstruction was completed in 1857, which in Hebrew numerology is equivalent to "and My Temple shalt thou revere" - the inscription in Hebrew that appears above the entrance. In 1948, during Israel's war for independence, shrapnel tore through the building while it was full of people sheltering within; miraculously no one was hurt. Though the synagogue is associated by name with the Ashkenazi community, today it serves as a place of worship for Hasidic and Sephardic Jews and remains popular among worshippers of different affiliations. The Holy Ark was carved from olive wood by a craftsman from Galicia, in the style of the synagogues of Eastern Europe. It includes an anthropomorphic image of a lion, alluding to Rabbi Luria's acronym Ari, which means lion.