Between Redemption and Renewal: The Golden Age of Tzfat

In this class, I look at the background that led to the Golden Age of Tzfat. How did a sleepy hill town become the center of Judaism for a few decades in the 16th century?

This class looks at the origins of 16th century Jewish Tzfat (Safed), including the Ottoman conquest, Suleiman the Magnificent, Don Joseph Nasi, and Rabbis Peretz Colon and Yosef Saragossi. Then I look at Yaacov Berav and his dispute with Levi ibn Haviv about the renewal of semicha, and how that is related to messianism and a direct consequence of the expulsions from Spain and Portugal.

In this class, we explore the life and legacy of Rabbi Yosef Karo, the 16th-century author of the Shulchan Aruch, who stands as one of the most pivotal figures in Jewish history. A child of the Spanish Expulsion, Karo’s journey from exile in Spain and Portugal to the mystical city of Tzfat embodied the messianic hopes of his generation. We trace his monumental literary achievements: the encyclopedic Beit Yosef, the first major halakhic work conceived for the printing press, and its revolutionary distillation, the Shulchan Aruch—a concise, accessible code intended to unify Jewish practice on the threshold of redemption. We also delve into the hidden side of this legal giant, exploring his mystical diary, Magid Meisharim, which records his nightly conversations with a celestial mentor who guided his work and revealed secrets of reincarnation and his own family. Ultimately, we see Karo as the ultimate expression of the Tzfat renaissance: a man who combined rigorous legal analysis with profound mysticism, and who transformed the dream of messianic unity into a practical, portable, and enduring framework for Jewish life.

This class is primarily about Rav Moshe Cordovero and two of his most famous books, Pardes Rimonim and Tomer Devorah. I also discuss briefly his teacher and brother in law, Shlomo Alkabetz, and predecessor, Meir ben Ezekiel ibn Gabbai. I also attempt to give an answer to the questions “What is Kavbalah” and “How does Cordoverian Kabbalah differ from Lurianic Kabbalah” (we’ll learn about the Ari and Lurianic kabalah next week)

This class is about the Arizal, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, who perhaps had the biggest influence on kabbalistic thought since the revelation of the Zohar.

I speak about the few details we know of his life, some hagiography from Shivchei Ha-Ari, and some of his major transformative innovations in kabbalah. Then I look at the influence, different understandings and dichotomies caused by one of those ideas — tzimtzum

This class looks at the life and writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital, the closest student of the Arizal, and main promulgator of his kabbalistic ideas.

As well as an overview of R’ Chaim Vital’s life and writings, in this class, we look in depth at sections of his journal/autobiography, “Sefer Hachezyonot,” which (among many other things) show his messianic aspirations, touch briefly on his interest in alchemy, his disputes with others, and end with his introduction to “Sha’arei Kedusha.”

In this concluding class of the series on the Golden Age of Tzfat, we meet three pivotal figures who carried the torch of this extraordinary era into its final decades. Moshe Alshich, the celebrated preacher and author of Torat Moshe, who served as Chaim Vital’s primary teacher and became the head of the Tzfat community after Yosef Karo’s passing. Moshe di Trani (the Mabit), the halakhist and philosopher whose works Kiryat Sefer and Bet Elohim explored the boundaries of messianic hope and the principles of Jewish faith. And David ibn Abi Zimra (the Radbaz), the towering legal authority whose life spanned the entire golden age—from his birth in Spain before the expulsion to his final decades in Tzfat as a member of Karo’s court, where he issued the decisive ruling that ended the controversial renewal of semikhah. We then explore the forces that brought this remarkable period to a close: the economic collapse of Tzfat’s textile industry under English competition, the devastating plagues and earthquakes, and the spiritual crisis that followed the Sabbatean movement. Finally, we reflect on the enduring legacy of the Tzfat renaissance—the Shulchan Aruch, Lurianic Kabbalah, the Kabbalat Shabbat liturgy—and consider why this small Galilean town, for a few extraordinary decades, became the most vibrant center of Jewish creativity since the time of the Mishnah.