Nineteenth-century out-of scale map of the four cities: Jerusalem at top right, Hebron beneath it, the Jordan River running top to bottom, Safed at top left, and Tiberias beneath it.
The Four Holy Cities of Judaism are the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias, which were the four main centers of Jewish life after the Ottoman conquest of Palestine.[1]
According to the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia: "Since the sixteenth century the Holiness of Palestine, especially for burial, has been almost wholly transferred to four cities—Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed."[2]
Jerusalem has been the holiest city in Judaism and the spiritual center of the Jewish people since the 10th century BC when the site was chosen during the lifetime of King David to be the location of the Holy Temple.[3]
The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron is the burial place of the Jewish patriarchs: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. As such Hebron is the second holiest city to Jews,[4] and is one of the four cities where Israelite biblical figures purchased land (Abraham bought a field and a cave east of Hebron from the Hittites (Genesis 23:16-18), King David bought a threshing floor at Jerusalem from the Jebusite Araunah (2 Samuel 24:24), Jacob bought land outside the walls of Shechem from the Shechemites (Genesis 33:18-19), and Omri bought the site of Samaria.) Historically, Hebron was the first capital of King David.[4]
Safed came to be regarded as a holy city after the influx of Jews following the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and became known as a center of kabbalistic scholarship.[5]
Tiberias is significant in Jewish history for several reasons. It was the place where the Jerusalem Talmud was composed and served as the final meeting place of the Sanhedrin before its disbanding in 425 CE. Tombs of famous rabbis Yohanan ben Zakkai, Akiva and Maimonides are also located in the city and it was also the home of the Masoretes and the place where the Tiberian vocalization was devised. However, its status as a holy city is due to the influx of rabbis who established the city as a center for Jewish learning in the 18th and 19th centuries. According to Jewish tradition, the redemption will begin in Tiberias and the Sanhedrin will be reconstituted there.[6] In Jewish belief, the Messiah will arise from the lake of Tiberias, enter into the city, and be enthroned at Safed on the summit of a lofty hill.[7]
^Wigoder, Geoffrey, ed. (1989). The Encyclopedia of Judaism. Macmillan. p. 768. Term applied to the Erets Israel cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. These were the four main centers of Jewish life after the Ottoman conquest of 1516. The concept of the holy cities dates only from the 1640s, when the Jewish communities of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed organized an association to improve the system of fundraising in the Diaspora. Previously, such fundraising had been undertaken by individual institutions; now it was agreed that the emissaries would be sent on behalf of each urban Jewish community as a whole, with not more than one emissary per town. After Tiberias was refounded in 1740, it also joined the association. This arrangement did not last long, however, and by the mid-19th century there was no authority strong enough to enforce a centralized collection of ḥalukkah funds. In Jewish tradition, going back to ancient times, the only city regarded as holy is Jerusalem
^Noy, Dov; Ben-Amos, Dan; Frankel, Ellen (November 2006). Folktales of the Jews: Tales from the Sephardic dispersion. Jewish Publication Society. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-8276-0829-0. Retrieved 17 October 2010 – via Google Books.
^Bellows, Henry W. (2008). The Old World in Its New Face: Impressions of Europe in 1867-1868. Vol. II. BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-559-64379-8. Retrieved 17 October 2010 – via Google Books.
The FourHolyCities of Judaism are the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias, which were the four main centers of Jewish life after the Ottoman...
A holycity is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often...
The FourHoly Beasts (四靈、四聖獸、or 四大神獸) are Chinese astronomical and cultural Four Benevolent Animals that are spread in the East Asian cultural sphere....
Goffman 2007, p. 97: 'Suleyman considered himself the ruler of the fourholycities of Islam, and, along with Mecca and Medina, included Hebron and Jerusalem...
especially for burial, in the "FourHolyCities": Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias – as Judaism's holiest cities. Jerusalem, as the site of the Temple...
Districts of Israel FourHolyCities Jewish population by city List of cities administered by the Palestinian Authority List of cities of the ancient Near...
consisting of the remains of Jewish communities of Galilee and the four Jewish holycities, which had flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries; and the Ashkenazim...
The Holy See (Latin: Sancta Sedes, lit. 'Holy Chair', Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈsaŋkta ˈsedes]; Italian: Santa Sede [ˈsanta ˈsɛːde]), also called the See...
the Jewish holiday of Passover. The fourholycities of Judaism: Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and Tiberius There are four Vedas: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda...
return. The city of Hebron, in Palestine, is traditionally considered – along with Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem – one of the "fourholycities" in Islam...
the fourholycities, and unlike the New Yishuv, had not embraced land ownership and agriculture. Apart from the Old Yishuv centres in the fourholy cities...
era in Palestine, native Jewish communities lived primarily in the four 'holycities' of Safed, Tiberias, Hebron and Jerusalem. The Jewish population consisted...
a key site for Jewish learning. Today it remains one of Judaism's fourholycities and a center for kabbalah. In the mid-17th century Galilee and Mount...
The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים, romanized: Qoḏeš haq-Qǝḏāšim or Kodesh HaKodashim; also הַדְּבִיר had-Dəḇir, 'the Sanctuary') is a term...
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed...
Free and Imperial cities. Until 1582 the votes of the Free and Imperial Cities were only advisory. None of the rulers below the Holy Roman Emperor ranked...
couples. The city is often considered one of the fourholycities in Judaism as well as in Islam. Hebron is considered one of the oldest cities in the Levant...
The list of Christian holy places in the Holy Land outlines sites within cities located in the Holy Land that are regarded as having a special religious...
portal Cities portal Architecture of Vatican CityHolycity Index of Vatican City-related articles Law of Vatican City News.va Outline of Vatican City Many...
Palestinian cities on the coast. 614 May – The Sasanian Empire under general Shahrbaraz captures and sacks Jerusalem; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is...
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem...
increase of the population, with evidence that existing cities were expanded and many new cities were founded. The construction of new aqueducts and the...
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (German: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (Freie Reichsstadt...
Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's FourHolyCities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. In 2022, it had a population...
Holy Week (Koinē Greek: Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, romanized: Agia ké Megale Evdomas, lit. 'Holy and Great Week') is the most sacred week in the liturgical...
Global Information