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Legend has it that when Solomon cast lots to
apportion the “fund-raising” for the
building of the Temple, the princes and
rulers were responsible for the cupolas,
pillars and steps; the priests and Levites
the Ark and the curtain upon it; those
mighty in wealth, the eastern side; and the
poor and the needy, the western wall.
The princes and rulers and the rich took
golden earrings from their wives and their
daughters as well as all their precious
jewels to buy cedar wood to cover the walls,
cypress wood for the doors and olive wood
for the lintels. They hired laborers
from Sidon and Tyre and the work was
completed. Then the priests from the
house of Aaron and the Levites completed the
decorations for the Ark and its veil. |
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But the work of the poor was delayed.
They could import neither materials nor
labor from abroad. The men, women and
children, themselves, hewed stone and toiled
with the sweat of their brow until the
Western Wall was completed. |
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When the Temple stood upon its height,
perfect in its beauty, the divine Presence
descended and rested upon it. The Lord
chose the Western Wall, saying, “This wall
finds favor in my eyes, for it was built by
the hands of the poor and the needy.
My Presence will never depart from the
Western Wall.” |
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Photo: Gila Yudkin |
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Praying by the Western
Wall -- note the notes tucked into the Wall |
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So when the House of Glory was destroyed,
the angels of the Most High descended and
spread their wings over the Western Wall,
proclaiming, “Never shall the Western Wall
be destroyed.”
Although today’s Western Wall dates from the
time of Herod, a thousand years after
Solomon, Jews believe to this very day
that the Divine Presence resides in the
Western Wall. Thus every prayer request
tucked into the wall goes right up to the
heights of heaven. |
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COMING TO
JERUSALEM?
BOOK GILA for your customized private tour |
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Photo: Gila Yudkin |
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Praying in the "Women's
Section" of the Western Wall |
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| Several times every year, letters addressed
to God, Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel, are
collected by Jerusalem’s postal service and
deposited at the Western Wall. But it’s best
to come in person to deliver your request.
Any kind of request is acceptable, say the
rabbis, as long as its fulfillment carries
out a good deed or commandment. For example,
a person could slip in a request to win a
million dollars – as long as s/he would give
a good percentage to charity. |
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In the Turkish times during a drought, the
authorities would submit a formal request
for the rabbis to pray for rain at the
Western Wall. During the 1878 Russo-Turkish
War, groups of rabbinical students, escorted
to the Western Wall by a military guard of
honor, prayed for the success of the Turkish
army. |
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Around sunset every Friday, as the Sabbath
descends upon Jerusalem, one can see today’s
black-jacketed rabbinical students singing
and dancing on their way to pray by the
Western Wall. You’re even invited to join
them if you have mastered the words to
Ode Avinu Chai! |
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Photo: Gila Yudkin |
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Right before the Sabbath
at the Western Wall |
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| Another moving vista is at sunrise, Shavuot,
that is, Pentecost, when tens of thousands
of Jewish pilgrims all dressed in white walk
to the Wall, after a night of studying the
Book of Ruth. During the second day of the
pilgrim holidays, Passover and Tabernacles,
cohanim or priests from the lineage of Aaron
cover their eyes and bless the multitudes of
pilgrims with the ancient Priestly
Benediction, as dictated by the Almighty in
Numbers 6 verses 24 to 26. |
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Photo: Gila Yudkin |
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Western Wall during
Tabernacles |
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Photo: Gila Yudkin |
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Priestly Benediction at
the Western Wall during Passover 2005 |
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| My most memorable experience at the Wall was
watching my nephew receive his gun and a
Bible in the evening swearing-in ceremony
for paratroopers inducted into the Israel
Defense Forces. Tucked in his Bible was a
letter saying, “Open to Zechariah 4 and read
verse 6.” |
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“Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit
says the Lord of hosts.” |
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| Why don't
you come to Jerusalem this coming year and tuck your own personal
prayer into the Western Wall, as hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims have done over the
centuries? |
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| In the above
photo 400 descendents of holocaust survivor
Shoshanna Ovitz descend on the Western Wall
(behind them) to celebrate her 104th
birthday in August 2019 |
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Postscript: Pilgrims talk about
visiting the Western Wall |
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"I seem to remember
as a young child seeing photos in National
Geographic or Life magazine of Israeli soldiers
praying at the Western Wall after it was liberated
in the 1967 war. Even as a child I was
interested in history, and had read a great deal
about the Holocaust and the recent history of
Israel. Israelis having access to the Western
Wall represented to me something very basic about
fair play.
Since then I have come to understand, as I think
many Christians have, the importance of the Western
Wall to Jews and consequently, to Christians.
Sometimes
I don't realize how important things are to me until
I realize how important they are to my brothers and
sisters.
The odd thing about going to the Western Wall is
that I had no great interest in visiting Israel
until I started listening to Michael Medved and,
occasionally, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, on the radio. I
learned so much about the basis of my own faith as a
Christian from these two Jewish men that, when
Michael announced his tour, I felt compelled to go.
That's how I found myself one day at the Western
Wall. It seems in one sense odd to have ended
up there - the accidental pilgrim, if you will - but
having been there, I can think of no place else I
would have rather gone. Being able to lay my
hands on the Western Wall was part of a 40-year
journey I didn't even know I was on. It was
nothing less than awe inspiring."
Paul Spring,
Portland, Oregon |
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Photo: Paul
Spring |
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The "accidental pilgrim" at the
Western Wall |
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| "No words are needed
at the western wall. I had stepped on a chair to
find a spot to fit the paper with my prayers; as I
turned around two other women whom I had never met
handed me their prayers, so I could find a place for
them as well. I did not need to know their
religion, ethnicity or country of origin; we all
shared a common faith in God, and sent our prayers
to Him." Larissa Rodgers,
Phoenix, Arizona |
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Photo: Joan
McKeon |
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Larissa Rodgers tucking a prayer request
into a crack in the wall |
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Ask Gila: What happens to the notes
placed in the Western Wall? |
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Right before Passover, April 2023, with
gloves and wooden utensils, Western Wall
staff removed 30,000 notes (!) from
between the ancient stones of the Western
Wall along its entire length including the
Western Wall Tunnels. The
removal is carried out in accordance with
rabbinic guidelines, with the goal of making
room for new notes from tourists and
visitors who are expected to arrive in
Jerusalem in the coming months. |
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The notes were collected in sacks and will
be buried together with worn holy books that
are transferred to a designated genizah.
(A genizah is a storage area in a
Jewish synagogue or cemetery designated for
the temporary storage of worn-out
Hebrew-language books and papers on
religious topics prior to proper cemetery
burial.) Where are the notes are finally
buried, you may ask? I will show you
when we are on tour. |
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The rabbi custodian of the Western Wall and
holy sites personally supervised the note
removal, as he does every year, and prayed
for the Unity of Israel and for the tens of
thousands of visitors who placed their
prayers between the ancient stones. |
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The custom of placing notes in the Western
Wall was recorded already three centuries
ago by the venerated Moroccan Rabbi and
Kabbalist, Haim ibn Attar. |
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In addition to the hundreds of thousands of
notes that are personally tucked between the
stones by visitors, an average of about
3,000 notes are sent each month through the
Western Wall Heritage Foundation’s website.
The top countries from which the highest
number of notes were sent are the U.S.,
Brazil, Colombia, Russia, and Canada.
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But it’s best to come here and place your
notes in person! |
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Photo: Gila Yudkin |
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Military honor guard in
front of the Western Wall on Remembrance Day
2023 |
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Note the Israeli flag is
at half staff |
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Copyright 2006, 2015, 2019, 2023 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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Gila Yudkin,
who calls herself a Connecticut-born Yankee
living now in King David's court, has been
bringing pilgrims to tuck their prayer
requests into the Western Wall at all hours
of the day and night for three decades. |
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If you are coming to Jerusalem by yourself
and plan to visit the Temple Mount,
Gila's MP3
Temple Mount audio tour
will expose you its many facets:
Jewish, Christian, Muslim plus archeological,
historical and legendary. Tour the Temple
Mount in the company of Abraham and Isaac,
David and Solomon, Jesus and the disciples, Mohammed and the
archangel Gabriel.
Gila's Temple Mount tour
is also available as a written
24-page PDF with a
Temple Mount plan,
guidelines for passing the security check
and ten recommended reads on the
Temple Mount from Gila's bookshelves.
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