The small hole in the pulpit, directly opposite the door, is a scar from an May 1948 Arab shell. Although the synagogue was full at the time, no one was hurt-a miracle attributed to protection by the ghost of the Rabbi Luria. A Sephardic synagogue lies farther down the hill near the cemetery. Just downhill from the Caro Synagogue, off Abuhav St. in the Spanish Quarter, stand the Abuhav and Atsheih Synagogues. Take a left off Beit Yosef St. onto Alsheih St. and then make a sharp right; both buildings will be to your right. The blue color of the walls symbolizes God’s reign, and the green, also common, symbolizes the growth of redemption. Dress modestly when you visit synagogues. No cameras on Shabbat. When visiting a synagogue, remember to make a donation, however small, for upkeep.

Three adjoining cemeteries sprawl on the western outskirts of the Old City, off Ha’Ari St. Follow the path all the way down, past the complex of new stone buildings on the left. The small building on the left where the path turns right down the hill into the cemetery is Ha’Ari synagogue’s men’s mikveh, or ritual bath (women should not enter). The oldest of the cemeteries contains the 17th-century graves of the most famous Tzfat Kabbalists, as well as a domed tomb built by the Karaites of Damascus (a medieval group of Jewish biblical literalists) to mark the grave of the biblical prophet Hosea.