Creator of the month: Safed Candles
December 2019
When you walk the old narrow pebble paved alleys of Safed you end up at this magical little shop. Safed Candles. If you ever been to Safed you have been there for sure.
Safed Candles was begun almost two decades ago by a Tzfat resident, who was looking to start a small business that would provide employment for some local residents.
He set up his shop in a small cubby-hole on the edge of the Old City, next to the Ari Ashkenazi synagogue. There, a small staff of men and women hand-dipped and wove candles from beeswax into candles to be used for Jewish ceremonial purposes – for Shabbat, Havdalah, Hanukkah and more.
The little shop began to grow and through the years, expanded adding paraffin candles to its inventory which were brightly colored and decorated. The artist Chaim Gress added sculpting capabilities and artistic little biblical scenes and Jewish caricatures were added to the repertoire.
When the manufacture of the candles became too much for the small shop, the candle-making operation moved to an old warehouse outside of the Old City, but the shop, where the sculptures are made and new designs are created, remained in place. Smiley Hassidic faces, carved Jewish stars, good luck Hamsas and many other images combine to show that Judaica can be created from anything…..even wax.
Safed Candles uses environmentally-friendly materials in the manufacture of their candles, and are very proud of their product.
It is a magical high in the mountains of the Galilee and when you visit you can easily feel as if you are time traveling back to ancient Israel.
