THE 19TH CENTURY

His son Ibrahim Peha commanded the force that wrested Palestine from the Turks. He treated the Jewish and Christian population equitably, and during his reign the Jew’s collective debt to the authorities was cancelled and draconian laws were rescinded. The security situation returned to normal and bands of robbers that had plagued Tzfat were eradicated. Despite these changes for the better, a “Peasants’ Revolt” broke out in 1834, set off by the heavy taxes and compulsory army conscription imposed by the new Egyptian ruler. The Jews of Tzfat suffered heavy losses in life and property at the hands of the peasants. Again the Jewish printing press that had been set up three years earlier by Israel Beck was destroyed and the owner injured. The uprising was suppressed with the aid of the Druze population, and Egyptian rule was firmly reestablished.

In January 1837, a massive earthquake shook Tzfat. The tremor was felt as far as Beirut and Jerusalem, but the hardest hit was Tzfat. Its homes and synagogues built on the steep mountainside turned into a pile of rubble. The fortress on Citadel hill was completely destroyed. The 2,000 Jews who were killed in the earthquake were buried in mass graves. Survivors of the Prushim community abandoned Tzfat for Jerusalem. The Hassidic community remained, together with their leader the Rabbi of Avrutch, who coordinated the rescue operations.