|
|
|
 |
|
"EVEN FOR THE FOREIGNER...WHO HAS COME FROM A DISTANT LAND
BECAUSE OF YOUR GREAT NAME AND YOUR MIGHTY HAND...
THEN HEAR FROM HEAVEN, YOUR DWELLING PLACE,
AND DO WHATEVER THE FOREIGNER ASKS OF YOU…"
II CHRONICLES 6
|
|
| "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 |
| |
|
 |
|
Photo: Joan
McKeon |
|
Tucking a prayer
request into the Western Wall |
| |
"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 |
| |
|
 |
|
Photo: Paul
Spring |
|
The "accidental pilgrim" at the
Western Wall |
| |
| "I’ve seen the
Western Wall on TV, but never really paid much
attention to it. Up close and personal, it is
a very moving experience. There is a section
for men, one for women, and a large middle section
where boys celebrating their Bar Mitzvah can read
the Torah for the first time. Their mothers
and grandmothers stand on chairs, peering over a
fence to watch. I peered over, too, and loved
seeing the fresh-faced boys in prayer shawls being
hugged around the neck by their fathers and
grandfathers. The whole place was crowded,
lively and chaotic. I went to the women’s
section and put my hand on the wall and prayed for
my children; it made me teary." |
|
Julie Young
Phoenix, Arizona |
| |
|
|
|
GILA
YUDKIN
•
TCHERNIKOVSKI
64A
•
JERUSALEM
•
ISRAEL
gila@itsgila.com
HOME
•
TIPS
FOR TOURS
•
GILA'S
GIFT SHOP
•
ABOUT GILA
|
|
