One fateful day in 1837 the Avritch Rabbi brought all of his
parishioners into their Safed synagogue. As they worshipped
together he suddenly admonished them to run to the Ark, and just
before a terrible earthquake shook the building, he cried out,
“Hold onto the scrolls and you shall be saved!” Much of the
synagogue collapsed in that quake; only the portion which held
the Holy Scriptures remained intact. Fact or fable? Like so many
stories about Safed there may be some element of imagination
involved. But no one can deny that the synagogue was destroyed —
and the Torah scrolls were unharmed. Anything written about
mystical Safed, with its enchanting lanes and unique houses of
worship is bound to be laced with folklore, tales of wondrous
miracles, and fascinating historical tidbits. Like the story
about how the Avritch Rabbi made it to Israel. One day in the
early 19th century, when the rabbi was still living in Europe, a
messenger from Safed came to see him. “There is gold in the
city’s alleyways,” said the