UPPER GALILEE - Tzfat (Safed)

You needn’t be religious or Jewish to be enraptured by the mystical city of Tzfat; anyone who’s ever had a semi-profound thought, or faked one, will love it. Set on hazy Mt Canaan, overlooking the Galilean hills and the Kinneret, Tzfat is a city of mesmerizing beauty. Orthodox Jews believe the Messiah will travel from Mt. Meron to Tzfat before going to Jerusalem; some here even sport buttons that read “We want the Messiah now!” or display “In God We Trust” bumper stickers.

Along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias, Tzfat is a Jewish holy city. Sages say each city represents an element: Jerusalem is fire because of the burnt offerings in the Temple; Hebron earth for the land Abraham bought there; Tiberias water for Yam Kinneret; and Tzfat, a walled city perched in the cool Upper Galilee hills, is air. Of course, it’s possible to get too much of Tzfat’s atmosphere: in 1777, a rabbi who had trekked all the way to Tzfat from Europe ultimately packed up and left for Tiberias, complaining that the angels here kept him up at night.