Four Holy Cities

In Judaism, the "Four Holy Cities" are Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed. The concept was created for the purpose of fundraising within the Jewish diaspora, originating in the 1640s when the Jewish communities of Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed formed an association for that purpose – Tiberias was to join approximately a century later.

According to The Jewish Encyclopedia in 1906: "Since the sixteenth century the Holiness of Palestine, especially for burial, has been almost wholly transferred to four cities—Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed."

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