Where Is Nachum Ish Gamzu Buried?

Where is Nachum Ish Gamzu buried, you may ask? Or more likely, who is Nachum Ish Gamzu? Or what language is that anyway? Well dear readers, let me tell you, Nachum Ish Gamzu, or more correctly, Rebbe Nachum Ish Gamzu was a Tanna, a rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10-220 CE! Okay that is seriously a long time ago, and yet he was such an important figure that we are still talking about him and visiting his gravesite! One of the things for which Rebbe Nachum Ish Gamzu is known is that he was the teacher of the even more well know Rebbe Akiva! Rebbe Akiva was a huge Torah scholar and was completely unlearned until he started studying at the age of 40, a lesson for us all! Since we are now in the mourning period on the Jewish calendar during which the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva passed away, it certainly is a good time to mention his holy teacher, right? And if you don’t know who Rabbi Akiva is or why his students passed away, well, you can certainly google that as well…….there is a very rich and detailed Jewish history way beyond what most people can fathom! Okay, now shall we take a little walk off the beaten path, yes lets do it!

The commonly accepted burial site of Rebbe Nachman Ish Gamzu is on Gamzu street in the Holy City of Safed, also called Tsfat, Tzfat, Tzefat……However you spell it in English, there is only one way to spell it in Hebrew fortunately, and if you come for a visit, do spend more than the usual day or two, as there are so many things to see that tourists just never have time for. One of those things is a visit to the gravesite of Nachum Ish Gamzu, in a residential neighborhood about a 15 minute walk from the Old City, and right around the corner from the new Bar Ilan medical school.
Over the years a building was built to cover the gravesite, which means you can sit and reflect, or pray, or meditate any time of year, and likely anytime of day or night. (I’m assuming there are lights on at night, though I can’t say for sure as I’ve never been there at night……I guess I’ll need to go see for myself!)
One of my favorite parts about the visit to the gravesite of Nachum Ish Gamzu is that there is a shortcut path from HaNassi road to Gamzu, and there are always lovely morning glory vines growing there…….beautiful flowers, rich history, I’ll take it! Ah yes and you should too!