Rabbi Moshe Alshich (1508–1593), universally revered as the Alshich HaKadosh ("The Holy Alshich"), was another towering giant of the 16th-century Golden Age of Safed (Tzfat).

While his contemporaries in Safed were busy revolutionizing Jewish law (like Rabbi Yosef Caro) or scaling the heights of abstract mysticism (like the Arizal), the Alshich took on a different, arguably more monumental task: he became the ultimate storyteller and preacher of the Jewish world. He took the deepest secrets of the Torah and packaged them into brilliant, soul-stirring sermons that captured the hearts of both the greatest scholars and the simplest Jews.

1. His Pedigree: The Legal Genius

Because he is so famous for his warm, homiletical sermons, people often forget that the Alshich was one of the premier legal (Halachic) minds of his generation.

• The Disciple of the Shulchan Aruch: He was the prize student of Rabbi Yosef Caro (the author of the definitive Code of Jewish Law).

  
  

• The Rare Ordination (Semicha): In an attempt to revive the ancient, classical Sanhedrin court, Rabbi Yaakov Berav ordained Rabbi Yosef Caro, who in turn ordained only a select few. The Alshich was one of them. In fact, his tombstone in Safed explicitly boasts the phrase: "Ordained by our Master [Yosef Caro]."

  
  

• The Master of the Arizal's Student: The Alshich was the primary teacher of Rabbi Chaim Vital in the "revealed" parts of the Torah (Talmud and Halacha) before Rabbi Chaim Vital went on to become the chief disciple of the Arizal in Kabbalah.

  
  

2. The Power of the Friday Afternoon Sermon

The Alshich’s true fame exploded through his weekly sermons. Every single Friday afternoon in Safed, the entire town—including the greatest kabbalists of the era—would pack into his synagogue to hear him expound on the weekly Torah portion (Parasha).

He would ask a barrage of highly analytical, structural questions on the text, and then weave a beautiful, cohesive tapestry using literal interpretation (Peshat), moral ethics (Mussar), and hints of mysticism (Sod) to answer them all simultaneously.

• The Torat Moshe: These legendary Friday sermons were eventually compiled and written down, forming his masterpiece commentary on the Torah, titled Torat Moshe (often referred to simply as "The Alshich").

• The Ultimate Complement: It is told that the Arizal himself once attended the Alshich's sermon, looked up into the spiritual realms, and commented that he could see the angels leaning over the heavenly balconies just to listen to the Alshich speak, because his ability to find new meanings in the Torah was so pristine.

3. Why Is He Called "HaKadosh"?

As with the S'lah, the title HaKadosh ("The Holy") is incredibly rare in Jewish history, usually reserved only for a handful of sages like the Arizal, the Ohr HaChaim, and the Alshich.

While it reflects his immense righteousness and purity, tradition also states that he earned this title because his commentaries on the Bible were written with intense divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh). His writings possess a unique spiritual warmth; it is a long-standing Jewish tradition that studying the Alshich's commentary on a difficult text has a special power to bring a person to tears of spiritual inspiration and repentance.

4. The Alshich Synagogue and Kever

If you visit Safed today, the Alshich’s physical footprint is deeply felt:

• The Synagogue: The Alshich Synagogue in the Old City of Safed is one of the oldest functioning synagogues in the world. Notably, it is the only historic synagogue in Safed that completely survived both the devastating earthquakes of 1759 and 1837 without collapsing. It still retains its ancient, majestic atmosphere, complete with the stone bimah where he gave his Friday sermons.

• The Resting Place: The Alshich passed away at an advanced age in 1593. He is buried in the Old Cemetery of Safed, resting inside or immediately above a cave known as the "Cave of the Elders of Tzfat," just a short distance from his teacher Rabbi Yosef Caro and his colleague Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz.His Yahrzeit is observed on the 13th of Nissan (just two days before Passover).