“My first Shabbat in Israel I came to the Great Breslev Synagogue in Tsfat for Kabbalat Shabbat. The air was electric and during the singing, I felt a joy I’ve never experienced before in my life.” ~Visitor from São Paulo, Brazil.

In the heart of the Old City, on the same site where the Arizal and his followers lived, the Great Synagogue hosts hundreds of worshippers to usher in the Sabbath at sundown each week. Many innovations in prayer were made in Tsfat, including L’Cha Dodi, as well as the entire Kabbalat Shabbat service celebrated across the Jewish world today. The joyous singing and dancing has become an inseparable part of the Shabbat experience in Tsfat. The building sits adjacent to the ancient Ari Synagogue, and its majestic arched windows overlook Meron and the resting place of so many great sages and leaders of Israel. According to the Arizal, the ancient cemetery goes back to the time of the Exodus from Egypt and holds an incomprehensible number of Jewish gravesites.