Western Wall Blog

The Glory and Meaning of the Kotel

simcha — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:53:31 +0000

What does the Western Wall mean to the Jewish People… What does it symbolize… and who has its heart.

(Credits to Aish Jerusalem)

Siddur Party at the Kotel!

erika — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:44:40 +0000

The Kol Yaakov Elementary School of Yerucham had a Siddur (Prayer book) Party at the Kotel on Sunday of this week. It was a fun and excitement-filled occasion as the young children, accompanied by their parents, were presented with their very first prayer books at the Holiest Site on Earth. The children filled a tunnel right off of the Kotel Plaza and the excitement was clear.

Below, see the great pictures from the event!

President of East Timor Visits Kotel

erika — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:36:19 +0000

Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, the President of East Timor has come to Israel to have diplomatic discussions as well as tour the country. He visited the Western Wall on Sunday and he met with the Israeli President, Shimon Perez yesterday.

He visited the Kotel, put a note in the cracks, and took a guided tour of the Kotel Tunnels.

Below are some pictures from his visit.

UFO at the Kotel?!?!

erika — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:09:59 +0000

One of the stranger ‘phenomenon’ to be introduced to the Western Wall was the sighting of a UFO over the Temple Mount/Kotel area last Thursday. A bright orb of light was seen hovering just over the Temple Mount, descending downwards and resting just above it, and then with a flash of light, suddenly bouncing up towards the sky, moving in all directions before disappearing. Four videos taken by four different people from four vantage points have surfaced, giving some credibility to a shaky-sounding story. There are reports of witnesses besides those who were videotaping, but their names were not released. Videography experts who have looked at the videos are skeptical, saying that usually lights in the distance will appear to flicker on video, and in the videos taken there is no flickering…they suspect it may have been ‘artificially introduced’ into the footage. Feel free to decide for yourself. The videos are available for view on YouTube.

Admor of Skoyer at the Kotel

erika — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:04:38 +0000

Last Wednesday, the Admor of Skoyer, a Chassidic Rebbe, came to the Kotel with hundreds of his followers and students to pray. It was a meaningful visit in which he tore (kriya) to remember the Destruction of the Beit haMikdash, prayed, and then toured the Kotel tunnels with Rav Rabinowitz. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Graffiti at the Kotel!?!

erika — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:55:56 +0000

For the first time ever, graffiti was spray-painted at the Western Wall Plaza. A man, who onlookers described as ‘odd’ ran onto the scene, yelling and cursing. He spray painted “Palestine” on the wall separating the prayer section from the visitors’ plaza and was immediately apprehended. The graffiti was cleaned immediately and called a ‘desecration’ by Rav Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall.

They do have metal detectors at the Kotel, but it seems they can’t always keep the crazies out….

Archaeological Digs Causing a Rift?

erika — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:54:10 +0000

Towards the end of last month, Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall, denounced claims that archaeological digging was in any way harming the Temple Mount. The archaeological digs cannot, according to Jewish law, go into any part of the Temple Mount or below it.

Guatemalan Ambassador to Israel Visits the Kotel

erika — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:13:00 +0000

The Guatemalan Ambassador to Israel, Alfredo Vasquez, visited Israel and the Western Wall two weeks ago. He spoke with the Rav of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinowitz, toured the Generations Center and visited the new excavation sites.

Little Western Wall Opened

erika — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:49:25 +0000

For many years there has been scaffolding in front of the Little Western Wall, a section of the Western Wall that lies a few hundred meters north of the section of the Western Wall that has been open since 1967. The Little Western Wall is located inside the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem underneath a small archway. Now there’s a little more room for prayer at the Holiest Site in the World!

South African Olim Welcomed at the Kotel

erika — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:30:39 +0000

On January 1st, Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that facilitates Jews ‘returning’ to Israel as full citizens, held a beautiful event to celebrate the record number of South Africans to make aliyah this year!

It was a beautiful event on a gorgeous sunny day. Here’s a picture of some of the new ‘Olim’.