Tzfat is a city in the Northern District of Israel and is one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron, and a center for Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism.
From the Hebrew, 
, the name of the city is pronounced "Tzfat". Other spellings are Safed, Safat, Tsafat and the Arabic, 
, is pronounced "Safad") It is the highest city in Israel.
It is also famous as a health and holiday resort with pleasant summers and snowy winters with a lot of greenery thanks to its high altitude of more than 900 meters and high precipitation.
In 2007, the city, being in Northern Israel very close to the border, experienced a barrage of rocket attacks, fired from within Lebanon. Several citizens were injured and killed by Katyusha rockets launched by the Lebanese political party known as Hezbollah.
Ever since the most recent war, the people of Tzfat have been struggling. A large percentage of people continue to live below the poverty level and employment opportunites are few.
