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The "Kotel," or Western Wall, in Jerusalem: where do all those
messages go?
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Friday, January 30, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
aifa — An enterpris-
ing and curious jour-
nalist in Israel has at
last cleared up a mystery of
many years standing regard-
ing the Western Wall in
Jerusalem. The information
which he has uncovered will no
doubt answer a question which
many visitors to the Wall have
long asked.
Despite some popular mis-
conceptions, the Wall was
never a part of the holy Tem-
ple. Rather, it was one of the
retaining walls, built by Herod
to hold up the large, man-made
plateau on which the Temple
was constructed. Aside from
the sanctity attached to the
general area, as the site of the
Temple, no particular religious
importance was attached to the
Wall, and it was barely men-
tioned in religious or travel-
lers' accounts until about the
16th Century. At about that
time, the records show, the ac-
cumulated refuse and rubbish
which had piled up and
obstructed much of the Wall
was removed, and Jews began
to make it a site for pilgrim-
ages at which they mourned
the destruction of the Temple
— hence the name, Wailing
Wall, which has been dis-
carded since its liberation by
Israel in 1967.
At that time Israel dug away
further debris, and revealed an
additional two layers of stone,
making the Wall appear to
stand even higher. Tests have
shown that there are more
layers further down, but it has
been decided not to risk the
stability of the Wall by further
excavation.
Over two million people, Is-
raelis and tourists, visit the
Wall each year, to gaze at it, to
pray there, or to hold religious
ceremonies. The space before
the Wall has been converted
into a large prayer area, with
all the attributes of a
synagogue, hence the separa-
tion of the sexes there. Mour-
ners recite their kaddish, and
boys celebrate their bar
mitzvah at the Wall.
Tradition through the cen-
turies has endowed prayer ut-
tered at the Wall with particu-
lar efficacy, and it has become
customary for visitors to tuck
little notes of special request
into the crevices of the Wall.
Visiting dignitaries, Jew and
non-Jew alike, ambassadors,
movie stars, industrialists, vie
with the common people in
placing their messages into the
Wall on the principle that if it
won't help, at least it won't
hurt.
What do they ask for? There
is an intimacy about these ap-
peals to God, and no one pries,
but it is generally understood
that the written memos (some
are occasionally typed out in
advance), are prayers for good
health for self or loved ones,
wishes for business success, for
domestic harmony, for job se-
curity, for children (from child-
less families), requests for help
in winning grand lottery
prizes, entreaties for peace, for
victory by a favorite sports
team, for a good grade in exam-
inations — the list is endless.
The scraps of paper bear many
languages, for God under-
stands all tongues.
Scores, hundreds, thousands
of the jottings are jammed and
squeezed into every chink and
nook and cranny of the stone
wall, yet there always seems to
be room for more. And the big
question, frequently thought
but seldom asked openly, has
been: what happens to all these
notes? One credulous woman
has suggested that eventually
they all get to heaven, where
Continued on page 12
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