Tzfat
TzfatKobi Finkler

Residents of Tzfat recently found that a wall of an alley in their city had been decorated, in large Hebrew letters in the font used for sacred scrolls, with the inscription "Here Lies the Tana Kama".



Tana Kama, literally 'the first sage' is an Aramaic phrase used extensively in the Talmud to anonymously indicate the first opinion offered on any particular issue. Crucially, it does not refer to any particular individual.

The writing is thought to be a practical joke by a group of yeshiva students but has already become a tourist attraction. A resident of the area wrote on Facebook how tour guides have begun bringing groups there and explaining about the 'Tana Kama' in great detail, groups of seminary students visit the place to recite Psalms, and Hassidic worshipers have begun making it a pilgrimage destination.