In modern times, Jews have considered the ancient city of Safed one of the four holy cities in the Land of Israel, primarily because it became a center of mystical scholarship in the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting such figures as Joseph Caro, author of the seminal legal code known as the Shulḥan Arukh. The kabbalist Isaac Luria was another. Recently, the owner of a luxury hotel in Safed came across some features of the building during renovations that led him to call upon the archaeologist Yossi Stefansky to investigate. Yair Kraus writes:

According to tradition, the [hotel] building was part of Rabbi Luria’s living complex 450 ago, within the city’s Jewish community. “This place was likely the Torah study hall of one of the greatest Kabbalah scholars ever, in which several of Rabbi Luria’s top students and their friends studied,” Stefansky said. . . . Another ruin was found next to the ancient building, believed to be the rabbi’s mikveh, which he used daily.

Rabbi Isaac Luria Ashkenazi, or the Ari, was born in Jerusalem in 1534 to his father Rabbi Solomon Luria, who was of Ashkenazi descent, tracing his lineage to King David, and to his mother, who came from a Sephardi family. . . . After his father’s death, Luria and his family moved to Egypt, where he delved deeply into Kabbalah. In 1570, at the age of thirty-six, Luria, along with his wife, two sons, and daughter, immigrated to Israel and chose to settle in Safed. Two years after settling in the city, Luria died on July 25, 1572, during a plague that struck the entire Galilee region.

“The Jews never abandoned Safed; there was a continuous Jewish presence here that allows us to see how Jewish traditions survived here,” [Stefansky] explained.

On Tuesday, representatives of Hamas met with their counterparts from Fatah—the faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) once led by Yasir Arafat that now governs parts of the West Bank—in Beijing to discuss possible reconciliation. While it is unlikely that these talks will yield any more progress than the many previous rounds, they constitute a significant step in China’s increasing attempts to involve itself in the Middle East on the side of Israel’s enemies.

By contrast, writes Tuvia Gering, Taiwan has been quick and consistent in its condemnations of Hamas and Iran and its expressions of sympathy with Israel:

Support from Taipei goes beyond words. Taiwan’s appointee in Tel Aviv and de-facto ambassador, Abby Lee, has been busy aiding hostage families, adopting the most affected kibbutzim in southern Israel, and volunteering with farmers. Taiwan recently pledged more than half a million dollars to Israel for critical initiatives, including medical and communications supplies for local municipalities. This follows earlier aid from Taiwan to an organization helping Israeli soldiers and families immediately after the October 7 attack.

The reasons why are not hard to fathom:

In many ways, Taiwan sees a reflection of itself in Israel—two vibrant democracies facing threats from hostile neighbors. Both nations wield substantial economic and technological prowess, and both heavily depend on U.S. military exports and diplomacy. Taipei also sees Israel as a “role model” for what Taiwan should aspire to be, citing its unwavering determination and capabilities to defend itself.

On a deeper level, Taiwanese leaders seem to view Israel’s war with Hamas and Iran as an extension of a greater struggle between democracy and autocracy.

Gering urges Israel to reciprocate these expressions of friendship and to take into account that “China has been going above and beyond to demonize the Jewish state in international forums.” Above all, he writes, Jerusalem should “take a firmer stance against China’s support for Hamas and Iran-backed terrorism, exposing the hypocrisy and repression that underpin its vision for a new global order.”