I work in the
Q. How many people live in Tzfat?
A. About 33,000.
Q. What is the religious breakdown of the city's population?
A. About a third are Ultra-Orthodox (half Ashkanazi and half Sepharadi), a third consider themselves "traditional" or "religious Zionist" and a third call themselves "secular" (though many so-called secular Jews in Tzfat keep quite a few religious traditions and Jewish laws).
This breakdown was devised by the statistics, collected a few years ago, of the breakdown of the school population in Tzfat.
Q. How do people make a living in Tzfat?
A. The regional hospital is a large employer, as are several government offices which have their Northern headquarters here. Tourism is growing. There are many self-employed people working in shops and trades. There is a lot of building in the city. There are over a dozen schools in the city, so many people teach or work in the schools.
Q. What is the biggest problem facing Tzfat?
A. Unemployment. There is no industry here, and because of it's location, it's hard to bring raw materials to this area, so it's unlikely that any industry will start here.
Q. How many English-speakers are in Tzfat?
A. Including children, about 1000. There is an English library in Tzfat, as well as on-line communication among English-speakers which makes it easy for English-speakers to come here and settle. Once here, the English-speakers form a nice community, though in every other way, many have little in common.
Q. Why do people come to Tzfat, especially North Americans?
A. Everyone has their own reasons – spirituality, community, nature, religion, etc. But I think that the answer most often given is that here, people are very accepting. We jokingly call Tzfat "The Berkeley of the
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